14 September 2016
Extension of the European Funds for Strategic Investments
On the occasion of his state of the Energy Union address in Strasbourg today, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed to double the duration of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and double its financial capacity.
WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson welcomes this announcement:
“Well done to the Commission for launching the next chapter of the EFSI programme. EFSI has made a real difference to infrastructure investments. When the Commission and EIB are backing a project, then the capital costs fall significantly, and that’s crucial in a sector like wind energy which is capital intensive – and where policy and regulatory risk often make capital costs higher than they should be. EFSI also helps leverage the large amounts of private investment we need to get projects off the ground and support the energy transition. So it’s very good to know it’s going to continue and get bigger.
EFSI has already helped a number of wind power investments and new grid connections get over the line. We look forward to much more. And we call on Member States and the European Parliament to give their full support to what the Commission propose. This is a low-cost way of making investments happen – and delivering the jobs and growth we need.”
