France: EIB and Crédit Agricole CIB commit €600 million to European energy grids

• EIB provides €300 million guarantee to build financing portfolio for manufacturers of grid components.
• Crédit Agricole CIB commits equivalent amount.
• Initiative supported by InvestEU programme.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Crédit Agricole CIB have signed an agreement to support European energy grids, reaffirming their shared commitment to the energy transition, European industrial competitiveness and Europe's security of supply.

The EIB will provide up to €300 million in counter-guarantees, enabling Crédit Agricole CIB to commit an equivalent amount to build a portfolio of bank guarantees, issued on behalf of its clients, of up to €600 million. The guarantees are intended to support new investment in energy grids across the European Union. The leverage generated by the counter-guarantee is expected to mobilise up to €2.4 billion in real-economy investment.

The operation aims to strengthen the capacity of European manufacturers of electricity grid components to meet the strong demand generated by the energy transition. By sharing part of the risk borne by Crédit Agricole CIB under guarantees issued for these companies, the EIB is helping banks free up additional capacity to provide them with greater support.

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: "We are pleased to join forces with Crédit Agricole CIB once again to support Europe's energy security and green transition. Following wind energy, our focus today is on energy grids and the companies that manufacture the equipment essential to their development. In 2025, the EIB Group invested €33 billion in energy worldwide and accounted for more than a quarter of all investment in the energy transition in the EU. In 2026, we are continuing this commitment with the same ambition."

Crédit Agricole CIB Chief Executive Officer Jean-François Balaÿ said: "This strategic agreement builds on the one signed in 2025 to support the development of wind energy in Europe. It demonstrates our commitment to the energy transition and our ability to turn our ambitions into concrete action directly aligned with our ACT 2028 strategic plan. Crédit Agricole CIB and the EIB are combining their expertise and mobilising to support key clients across the energy value chain and help European industry deploy the electricity infrastructure essential to its energy future."

The agreement forms part of the EIB's €1.5 billion envelope dedicated to developing, modernising and reinforcing energy grids (the "Energy Grids Package") in the EU. The initiative is supported by the EU's InvestEU programme. Announced by the EIB in 2025, the energy grids envelope follows €6.5 billion previously made available by the EU's bank for wind energy. The EIB and Crédit Agricole CIB are also partners in the wind energy initiative, with a €1 billion guarantee portfolio under an agreement signed in December 2025.

Background information

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), whose shareholders are the 27 European Union (EU) Member States, is the EU's long-term financing institution and one of the world's largest multilateral development banks. In 2025, it signed €100 billion in new financing and advisory services in support of more than 870 high-impact projects across eight core priorities that advance the EU's main policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships, and the savings and investments union. In addition to long-term loans for major infrastructure, the EIB Group mobilises private investment for innovative, high-risk companies and projects, playing an increasingly important role in Europe's venture debt, venture capital, guarantee and securitisation markets.

Media can find here photographs of EIB Group leadership and headquarters, logos and broadcast-quality video footage.

The InvestEU programme provides the EU with essential long-term funding by mobilising substantial public and private funds in support of a sustainable economy. It helps generate additional investment aligned with EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal, the digital transition and support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By bringing together multiple EU financial instruments under a single structure, InvestEU makes financing investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three elements: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee. This guarantee increases their risk-bearing capacity, thereby mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment by 2027. The EIB Group is the programme's main implementing partner.