BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 20. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and ORLEN Group have signed a second 900 million Polish złoty (over 211 million euros) loan agreement this year to support energy transition projects in Poland, Trend reports.
This brings the total EIB financing for ORLEN to 1.8 billion Polish złoty (over 422 million euro) in 2024.
The funding will be directed towards strengthening and expanding the power distribution network of Energa, a system operator majority-owned by ORLEN.
EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska emphasized the importance of the investment, stating that upgrading Poland's power distribution network is crucial for the country’s energy transition. The loan will help extend the grid, increase the capacity to connect renewable energy sources (RES), and enhance the grid’s resilience to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
The EIB funding will be used to add 830 kilometres of power lines, 320 kilometres of new connections, and 170,000 smart meters. The project aims to connect around 25,000 new customers and install 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations. Additionally, it will raise RES connection capacity by 1.4 GW, allowing clean energy to reach 900,000 new households.
Magdalena Bartoś, CFO of ORLEN Group, highlighted the importance of cost-effective financing for the company's energy transition and the value of partnering with the EIB, which offers terms significantly better than those of commercial lenders.
The agreement is part of the REPowerEU initiative, a European Union program designed to diversify energy supplies and accelerate the green transition. Under this program, the EIB will provide 45 billion euros by 2027, with 1.78 billion euros already allocated to Poland last year.