The energy company obtains a 250 million loan with an incentive if it reduces water consumption.

Iberdrola continues to collect milestones in the world of sustainable finance. The Spanish energy company, the world’s largest corporate issuer of green debt, has recently signed a pioneering loan in Europe with the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo.

The special feature of this operation, which makes it unique to date on the continent, is that the interest to be paid by the company headed by José Ignacio Sánchez Galán is linked to a commitment to reduce water consumption. Iberdrola will try to progressively reduce the use of water in its activity to the point that it is set not to exceed 420 cubic meters per gigawatt hour by 2025. If it manages to meet its promises, Intesa will reduce the cost of the financing, but, similarly, if it fails to do so, the cost will increase. The interest rate of the bilateral loan is private and has not been disclosed.

At present, Iberdrola has green financing or financing linked to sustainability criteria for an amount of more than 32,400 million euros, of which more than 15,600 million euros correspond to purely green financing. The Spanish energy company’s strategy for years has been to ensure that its financing structure has an increasingly higher percentage of green and sustainable products. The target for 2025 is to reach 63% of the total.

And it is making good progress towards achieving the targets set. By the end of this year, Iberdrola assures, 100% of its credit lines and 70% of its hybrid bonds will already meet these characteristics and will add to the company’s green commitment.

Intesa

The circular loan with Iberdrola is not only a milestone for the Spanish energy company, but also a step forward in Intesa Sanpaolo’s commitment to the environment. This loan represents the largest operation carried out in Spain under its €6 billion Circular Economy program, launched by the transalpine entity in its 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. In fact, financial sources assure that this is the largest financing granted by the entity within this program to a company outside Italy, where the bank has its headquarters.

«This new operation reaffirms Intesa Sanpaolo’s commitment to our major clients in Spain and to inclusive and sustainable growth,» says Juan Pontoni, head of Intesa Sanpaolo in Spain and Portugal, about the loan signed with Iberdrola.

Source: Expansión.