CaixaBank SA

01/18/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/18/2022 03:09

CaixaBank participates in the financing of six wind farms in Poland by EDP Renewables

CaixaBank branch

• Transaction is CaixaBank's largest sustainable project finance operation in Poland to date.

• Reinforces the bank's commitment to working closely with Polish businesses and support the country's energy transition objectives through increased use of renewable energy.

CaixaBank has participated in the underwriting of a green loan facility for the long term financing of six wind farms by EDP Renewables, the world's fourth largest renewable energy producer. The agreeement covers the financing of the development, construction and operation of six wind farms with an aggregate capacity of 149.4 MW. The commercial tranche of 655 million zlotys (PLN), equivalent to €144 million, is supported by the European Investment Bank, CaixaBank and Santander, with a partial guarantee by EKF (Denmark's Export Credit Agency).

The six wind farms are geographically dispersed across Poland, throughout the south-eastern, north-western and northern part of the country. More precisely, the Kozlowo and Krasin wind farms are located in the Warmian-Masurian province, the Lichnowy and Chojnice wind farms are in the Pomerania province, Piatkowo is in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province and the Bogoria wind farm is in the Swietokrzyskie province.

EDP ​​Renewables wind farms will benefit from the renewable energy support scheme based on auctions organized in 2018 and 2019 by the Polish State and they constitute one of the largest wind energy financing operations in the country to date.

CaixaBank in Poland

This green loan is the largest project financing deal for CaixaBank in Poland to date. Through this loan, CaixaBank further reinforces its commitment to both the Polish economy and businesses to help them deliver on the energy transition objectives as the country moves to increase its production of renewable energy, especially at a time of great rises in the price of fossil fuels.

CaixaBank has had a presence in Poland since 2007 when it opened a branch in Warsaw. From there, the company offers corporate and transactional banking services, such as guarantees, bilateral loans, short-term and long-term financing, factoring, confirming, and other services. The branch has both helped CaixaBank become a relevant participant in Poland's corporate banking landscape.

CaixaBank, committed to sustainable financing

CaixaBank is among the financial institutions most committed to sustainability given that it has a Plan for Socially Responsible Banking that supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Through its initiatives, the Bank supports environmentally friendly initiatives and projects that contribute to preventing and mitigating climate change and encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy and social development.

In 2021 the bank has mobilised €31.37 billion euros in sustainable financing, an increase of 150% compared to 2020.

In the area of sustainable loans, in 2021 CaixaBank has issued 105 loans for a total value of €11.59 billion. This figure represents an 131% increase compared to 2020, marking a new record for the bank.

CaixaBank ended 2021 as the sixth bank in sustainable financing in EMEA, according to Refinitiv, and is the highest ranked Spanish bank.

In the area of bonds, in 2021 CaixaBank has participated as a bookrunner in the issuance of 18 ESG bonds, for a total of €16.2 billion, excluding the bank's own issuances.

The bank has further issued four own green and social bonds to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, for a total value of €3.5 billion. These four bonds add to the three issued in 2019 and 2020, making CaixaBank the European bank with the largest volume of own ESG bonds in euros, with a total of seven issuances - four green and three social bonds - for an aggregate value of €6 billion and £500 million.

CaixaBank's international presence

CaixaBank maintains an international presence through its International Banking network of representative branches and offices as well as cooperation agreements with international banks. In addition, it owns BPI in Portugal, the country's fourth largest financial institution by assets.

CaixaBank's International Banking business offers corproate and investment banking services to its clients with operations abroad, as well as business banking services to large local corporates. It has a global team of over 150 professionals, 27 international service points and agreements with more than 1,760 correspondent banks.

The CIB/IB (Corporate & Institutional Banking / International Banking) network of CaixaBank is made up of branches in Germany, France, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, all of them, with the exception of Portugal, authorised by both the Spanish and local regulators to enable them to provide comprehensive financial services to meet the needs of businesses operating locally.

The institution also has 18 representative offices on all five continents: Milan (Italy), Istanbul (Turkey), Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), New Delhi (India), Cairo (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Johannesburg (South Africa), New York (USA), Santiago de Chile (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Lima (Peru), Sydney (Australia) and Toronto (Canada). It also has two Spanish Desk teams in Austria's Erste Bank (Vienna) and Mexico's Inbursa (Mexico City), to serve CaixaBank's business customers in these markets.

CaixaBank's International Banking network is the only AENOR-certified international banking network in Spain.