The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €270 million green loan to Acquedotto Pugliese (AQP) primarily aiming to improve water and wastewater infrastructure to provide more efficient and resilient services to over 4 million people in the Puglia and Campania regions of Italy.
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In concrete terms, the EIB funds will support Acquedotto Pugliese’s water and sewerage investment plan for 2023-2027.
The company will also receive further resources from the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).
The EIB and NRRP funds will enable Acquedotto Pugliese to carry out around 100 small and medium-sized operations to further improve the preservation and efficient use of water resources, cut water losses across the network and ensure compliance with national and EU environmental regulations.
The investment will help to improve the water supply and wastewater collection, and contribute to the modernisation of existing wastewater treatment plants and the construction of new sewerage systems.
Operations are also planned to expand Acquedotto Pugliese’s digitalisation efforts via the installation of smart meters and to ensure that supply systems are more resilient to future extreme weather events such as drought.
The loan granted to Acquedotto Pugliese is among the EIB's first green loans in the Italian water sector, and the first to an operator in the south of the country. These support high-priority operations focusing exclusively on sustainability, climate action and the environment.
Italy was the biggest beneficiary of EIB resources for the water sector from 2016 to 2022.
The EIB financed 40 operations in the country during this period, providing a total of €2.9 billion and helping to unlock about €8.9 billion in investment.
This is the third EIB loan granted to Acquedotto Pugliese, and comes in addition to those signed in 2023 with Iren Group (Liguria), CIIP (Marche), Acque Spa (Tuscany), ACEA (Lazio), HERA Group (Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto) and Como Acqua (Lombardy). ■