The EUR 100 million loan agreement provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support Marcegaglia's EUR 170 million investment plan completed at the group's historic headquarters in Gazoldo degli Ippoliti. The agreement was signed by Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia and EIB Vice President Gelsomina Vigliotti.
The plan is to digitize and automate logistics at the Ravenna and Gazoldo degli Ippoliti plants and develop low-carbon, energy-efficient technologies by decarbonizing one of the galvanizing lines. It was also announced that funding is to be provided for research, development and innovation projects covering the production processes at these plants.
EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti stated, “The steel industry is crucial for the economy and the competitiveness of the European Union, but as we know, producing steel requires a large amount of energy and has a significant environmental impact. The financing announced today will help Marcegaglia embark on a transformational journey, enabling the group to adopt more sustainable industrial processes and cutting-edge technologies to improve its environmental footprint, increase safety at work and reduce costs. The transition towards innovative and sustainable production processes and clean technologies is essential to further Europe’s competitiveness and its leading role in new technologies, as well as to achieve EU climate neutrality objectives by 2050.”
Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia also emphasized, “The loan we signed today is another example of the positive working relationship that we have enjoyed with the EIB since 2019, and also demonstrates our unwavering and firm commitment to keeping our plants up to date with state-of-the-art technology. The aim of our important investment plan – that will take us to 2028 and receive EIB support – is not only to make our plants more innovative, but also to decarbonise them and improve energy efficiency, always with greater financial and environmental sustainability in mind. These projects will help to further reduce our environmental impact and improve the technology we use. This will hopefully place us among the very best in the European steel industry.”
The EIB announced that it provides financing to cover more than 50% of the total cost of a decarbonization and innovation project to support the REPowerEU objectives. The EIB said it may also offer higher initial disbursements and longer maturities and an increase in the co-financing rate to 75% to encourage energy projects. The EIB also announced its goal to support REPowerEU with an additional EUR 45 billion in financing by 2027.
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