1 RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICIES TO DEVELOP INVESTMENTS Juan Alario, Associate Director European Investment Bank (BEI) 10th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting on Renewable Energy Madrid, 16 April 2010

2 1.1The European Investment Bank European Union’s long-term financing institution set up in 1958 by the Treaty of Rome. Shareholders: 27 EU Member States Lending in 2009: European Union: EUR 70 bn Outside the EU: EUR 9 bn Total lending: EUR 79 bn Broad range of financial instruments: from senior loans to equity, including specific instruments for RDI projects TA facilities, notably outside the EU, including the new ELENA facility to support urban energy programmes

3 1.2EIB Renewable energy (RE) lending Substantial lending in low-carbon technologies: –Lending of EUR 4.2 bn to RE and EUR 1.5 bn to EE in 2009 –Support to the less developed technologies (e.g. off-shore wind) and markets (e.g. RE/EE in cities) –Expertise and experience in the whole range of low-carbon technologies Expanding support during the crisis (practically doubling lending to RE and EE in 2009, relative to 2008) Strong cooperation with the Commission to develop new initiatives for low carbon technologies

4 2.1RE issues in the EU RE in different development stages: Mature (e.g. on-shore wind): close to competitiveness with alternatives Emerging (PV, CSP, off-shore wind): cost expected to decrease rapidly New technologies in the early development stage (such as wave energy) Impact of the crisis: substantial decrease in RE investments in 2009, but now increasing again Cost of equity and financing (spreads) has increased

5 2.2RE issues in the EU Prices of wind turbines and PV equipment decreasing recently, but price trends dependent on many factors (raw material prices, regulations, etc.) Uneven development of RE technologies: substantial development for on-shore wind and PV, but still limited for biomass, for instance Uneven development of RE markets, but positive developments in the less developed markets in recent times

6 3.1 Issues to develop investments in the sector(1) Regulatory framework: Clear and stable regulatory framework Link to energy prices, particularly electricity prices, increased risk to investors, but RE protected against price fluctuations However, regulatory frameworks need to be adapted to market and technological changes: Problems mainly with emerging technologies: as market expands total subsidies increase very rapidly Regulatory change should not create regulatory uncertainty Convergence between feed-in tariffs and green certificate systems?

7 3.2 Issues to develop investments in the sector(2) Predictable and transparent permitting process Access and capacity of the electricity networks Address market failures, such as introduction of RE in the building environment (e.g. solar for thermal applications), heat networks using RE or geothermal (reservoir risk)

8 4. Conclusions Recently, substantial changes in the EU RE markets, linked mainly to the crisis: RE prices decreasing, changes in regulation Success in some leading markets is spreading out to other less developed markets of the EU, but need to accelerate movement Need to support the less developed RE to achieve RE objectives, particulary RE for thermal applications and RE in the urban environment EIB is launching new initiatives in support of EU objectives in the RE field.

9 Thank you for your attention