The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched a new financing facility to support Turkey's investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to increase energy savings and decrease carbon emissions, the bank said Tuesday in a press release posted on its website.
The new mid-size Sustainable Energy Financing Facility, or MidSEFF, will help Turkey in reducing its dependence on fossil fuels by financing private sector investments in mid-size sustainable energy projects, the bank said.
Within MidSEFF, the EBRD will offer a total of 400 million euros in loans to Turkish banks for on-lending to private sector borrowers to undertake mid-size renewable energy, waste-to-energy and industrial energy efficiency investments, Anadolu Agency reported.
As part of this new framework, the EBRD will disburse 300 million euros in loans for up to 12 years to Turkish commercial banks either through unsecured senior loans or diversified payment rights securitisation programmes, established by those banks.
In addition, the EBRD will also undertake direct risk participation with the same banks in selected sub-projects up to a total value of 100 million euros.
MidSEFF is being provided in close co-ordination with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is expected to provide a similar amount of funding alongside the EBRD.
Varel Freeman, the EBRD's First Vice President, said that MidSEFF was an important component of the EBRD's support of Turkey's long-term energy strategy.
Turkey's Garanti Bank is the first local bank to join the MidSEFF.
Through the purchase of notes issued by Garanti Diversified Payment Rights Finance Company under Garanti Bank's established diversified payment rights securitisation program, it will receive a total of 150 million euros from the EBRD and the EIB for on-lending to eligible sub-borrowers.
Three more banks are anticipated to join the facility in early 2011, EBRD said.