EIB, UniCredit to finance renewables projects by Italian SMEs

February 28 (Renewables Now) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Italy’s UniCredit SpA (BIT:UCG) will make available EUR 100 million (USD 113.9m) of financing to Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

The EIB will provide a credit line of EUR 50 million, which UniCredit will match with another EUR 50 million, the EU lender announced on Thursday.

Local authorities and SMEs operating in the agriculture, crafts, industry, retail, tourism and services sector are eligible to apply for the loan as long as their projects have an environmental purpose.

The applicants can obtain financing for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects with a maximum term of 20 years.

UniCredit, which is in charge of selecting the projects and managing the finance provided to the companies, can finance up to 100% of investment, with the EIB's funds covering up to EUR 12.5 million. The maximum individual cost of projects is limited to EUR 25 million.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.14)

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