The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that it is considering providing a loan worth 49 million euros to Romanian electricity distributor Distributie Energie Electrica Romania (DEER).
The statement from the bank said that the loan will be guaranteed by DEER’s parent company Electrica. The loan will finance the company’s liquidity needs to cover the increased cost of electricity purchases required for network losses and will enable it to continue the distribution of electricity to Romanian consumers without interruptions. The financing will also allow the company to move on with investments in the electricity grid in order to cope with integration of additional renewables generation.
The EBRD should approve the loan on 15 November.
In early 2022, the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided the 15-year 90 million euros loan to DEER, which represents the second part of the bank’s 210 million euros backing for the company’s 300 million euros energy infrastructure investment projects. These projects will support strengthening and modernization of the electricity distribution network in the country, including upgrading and building new transmission lines, building and refurbishing substations and installing components for network automation across Romania.