The Green Climate Fund (GCF) will grant USD 100 M to finance the promotion of Renewable Energy

The GCF will grant for the first time a credit to an Argentine bank to promote the efficiency in the production and use of renewable energy

Buenos Aires, April 28, 2019. The Minister of Treasury, Nicolás Dujovne, and the Ministry of Production and Labor, Dante Sica, signed, together with the representative of the Inter-American Development Bank in Argentina, Jose Luis Lupo, and the Vice President of the Investment and Foreign Trade Bank (BICE, for its acronym in Spanish), Federico Cafasso, a loan agreement for USD 100 million aimed at the project “Promotion of Risk Mitigation Tools and Investment Financing in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency”. In addition, the loan includes USD 3 million for technical cooperation aimed at research and technical training.

The loan will be directly granted by the BICE or through financial institutions and the final beneficiaries will be Argentine SMEs investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

“This is a key funding for the BICE because it will enable us to strengthen the financing of renewable energy projects, a strategic sector for the sustained growth of the country”, Francisco Cabrera, President of the BICE, said.

The operation is the result of the negotiation by and between the Ministry of Treasury, the BICE and the Inter-American Development Bank before the Green Climate Fund, and constitutes a milestone in international funding, which will contribute to the Argentine Government’s objective of increasing in 20% the participation of renewable energy in the electricity consumption in 2025 and reducing in 10.2% the total final energy consumption in 2030.