Endesa receives first green credit from ICO

30 May 2019

  • The operation amounts to 300 million euros and its purpose is to finance the construction of 15 wind farms and 3 photovoltaic plants in six Autonomous Communities.
  • The project will contribute to job creation, generating 1,700 jobs during the implementation phase.


Endesa has received the first green credit from the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO). This type of financing is designed to facilitate investments in energy efficiency or to promote the production of renewable energy sources.

The deal with Endesa is worth 300 million euro and has a 12-year term, with a 2-year grace period for the principal. It is linked to the construction and commissioning of wind farms and photovoltaic solar plants with a combined capacity of 789 MW in 2019, located in Aragón, Castilla la Mancha, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Castilla y León. This project will contribute to the creation of 1,700 jobs during the implementation phase.

In qualifying an operation as "green", the ICO is guided by the criteria established by the Loan Market Association (LMA), an association whose main objective is to improve liquidity, efficiency and transparency in the syndicated loan banking markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. These "green" criteria were established in March 2018 to create a demanding framework of standards and guidelines by providing a coherent methodology for green lending focusing on four basic pillars: ensuring the use of funds; undergoing a rigorous project evaluation and selection process; controlling the management of funds; and monitoring to completion and implementation. The approval of an operation such as the one Endesa has received requires full compliance with these principles.

The investments to be financed by the loan are part of Endesa's 2019-2021 Strategic Plan, one of whose objectives is to achieve full decarbonisation of its power generation mix by 2050 through a firm commitment to renewable energies and optimisation of the remaining generation technologies during the transition period.

Overall, Endesa will invest more than 1.8 billion euros in renewable energies until 2021, with the aim of developing around 2,000 new MW.

With this objective, in line with the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan sent by the Spanish Government to the European Union, which states that 42% of the energy consumed in Spain in 2030 must come from renewable sources, Endesa is leading the transformation of the country's energy model towards a sustainable model based on the electrification of demand and energy generation from renewable and non-polluting sources. The investments also meet the United Nations¿ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Endesa was awarded 540 MW of wind power and 339 MW of photovoltaic power in the tenders for new installations to produce electricity from renewable sources held in Spain in May and July 2017, representing an investment of more than 800 million euros until 2020. This additional capacity of 879 MW means an increase of around 50% in the current capacity of Endesa's renewable energy fleet.

Endesa currently manages 6.526 MW of renewable capacity in Spain. Out of this figure, 4,710 MW come from conventional hydraulic generation. The remaining 1,818 MW come from wind power (1,750 MW), mini-hydro (54 MW) and other renewable energy sources (14 MW).

The Official Credit Institute (ICO) is a public business entity belonging to the Ministry of Economy and Business of the Spanish Government. The ICO has become a benchmark in the financing of both SMEs and large investment projects. The ICO contributes to business growth and the generation of employment, promoting those economic activities which, due to their social, cultural, innovative or ecological importance, deserve promotion and development.