European Investment Bank and BNP Paribas Establish €700 Million Grid Guarantee Portfolio

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 29, the European Investment Bank and BNP Paribas signed an agreement to jointly establish a bank guarantee portfolio of up to €700 million to support European grid equipment manufacturers in expanding investment. The European Investment Bank will provide a counter-guarantee of up to €350 million, with BNP Paribas contributing an equal amount, and the arrangement is supported by the EU's InvestEU program.

The guarantee portfolio primarily targets manufacturers of key grid components. BNP Paribas will issue bank guarantees on behalf of clients, while the European Investment Bank shares the risk through counter-guarantees, thereby enhancing banks' guarantee capacity for grid equipment manufacturers. According to estimates by both parties, this €700 million guarantee arrangement is expected to mobilize up to €2.8 billion in real economy investment.

This agreement is part of the European Investment Bank's "Pan-European Grid" financing arrangement. The program has a total scale of €1.5 billion, focusing on the construction, expansion, and modernization of Europe's transmission and distribution networks, and providing financing support through bank guarantee instruments to the manufacturing of transformers, cables, switchgear, and other key grid components.

The European Investment Bank's global energy project investment reached €33 billion in 2025, of which €11.6 billion was directed to grids and energy storage. This grid guarantee cooperation builds on the existing energy financing cooperation between the two parties. In February 2025, the two sides signed a €1 billion wind power equipment guarantee portfolio; the European Investment Bank had previously arranged €6.5 billion in related financing support for Europe's wind power industry.