14 DAY TRIAL // This past April 15, the European Investment Bank went public with the news that, thanks to the NER300 scheme, it had managed to raise as much as €2 billion ($2.76 billion) for investments in the clean energy sector.
On its website, the European Investment Bank details that, under the NER300 program, it successfully sold 300 million emission allowances, and that the money resulting from these sales now constitutes clean energy funding.
Information made available to the public says that the Bank will use the funds raised by selling emission allowances to support green energy projects and carbon capture schemes in several regions across Europe.
“We will continue to work closely with the European Commission to ensure that the best applicants can be awarded proceeds raised from the ground-breaking NER 300 scheme,” Jonathan Taylor, the Bank's current vice president, said in a statement.
“Successful completion of monetisation of carbon allowances under the NER300 scheme will help both carbon capture and storage schemes and innovative renewable energy projects across Europe reach a commercial scale,” he added.
The European Commission first gave the thumbs up to the European Investment Bank to start selling emission allowances three years ago. Thus, between December 2011 and September 2012, the Bank sold 200 million allowances and cashed in over €1.5 billion ($2.07 billion).
Emission allowances sales resumed in November 2013 and, by this year's April 11, the European Investment Bank managed to raise another €548 million ($756.8 million). For the time being, no further sales are to take place under the NER300 scheme.
Of the €1.5 billion obtained during the first phase of sales, €1.2 billion ($1.65 billion) was awarded to a total of 23 clean energy projects. The Bank says that, by July 2013, it received 33 applications for the second phase of sales, and that it will announce the winning projects later this year.
“The NER300 is a new path taken a few years ago to support large scale demonstration projects. We will need more of this type of innovation support in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” Jos Delbeke with the European Commission commented on this initiative.
“I am glad that the European Investment Bank has joined us in this innovative work and I commend them for having done an excellent job in monetising allowances,” the Director General for Climate Action went on to argue.
Given the urgency to limit climate change and global warming, it comes as good news that the European Investment Bank is helping promote clean energy and carbon capture schemes.