The European Investment Bank (EIB) and BNP Paribas have signed a significant agreement, mobilising €700 million in guarantees for European electricity grid manufacturers. The deal, announced by BNP Paribas on Tuesday, is backed by €350 million in counter-guarantees from each party and is supported by the European Union’s InvestEU programme. BNP Paribas is a leading European bank that offers a comprehensive range of financial products and services globally. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union’s long-term lending institution, owned by its Member States, financing projects that contribute to EU policy objectives.
This initiative forms part of a broader €1.5 billion package aimed at developing and modernising energy grids across the EU. The €700 million guarantee portfolio is expected to stimulate up to €2.8 billion of investment in the real economy. The agreement will expand BNP Paribas’ capacity to finance manufacturers of electricity grid components, responding to the rising demand driven by the ongoing energy transition. This latest collaboration follows a separate €1 billion wind energy guarantee portfolio signed by the two institutions in February 2025.
The deal aligns with the EIB’s Pan-EU Power Grid package, a comprehensive €1.5 billion initiative designed to develop, modernise, and strengthen the EU’s energy grids. According to EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, the EIB Group invested €33 billion in energy projects worldwide in 2025, with €11.6 billion specifically allocated to grids and storage. This grid initiative also builds upon €6.5 billion previously made available by the EIB for wind energy projects, underscoring the bank’s continued commitment to sustainable energy infrastructure.
