Spain: EIB and EMT Madrid sign €50 million loan to expand zero-emissions urban bus fleet

• Project includes the purchase of 250 electric buses and 10 hydrogen buses to replace units nearing the end of their useful life.
• With EIB support, Madrid's public urban transport company EMT will also acquire charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
• The operation is aligned with the EIB's Transport Lending Policy and contributes to have sustainable cities and regions.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Madrid's Empresa Municipal de Transportes (EMT) have signed a €50 million loan to finance the expansion of EMT's zero-emissions bus fleet, boosting support for sustainable urban public transport. The project includes the purchase of 250 electric buses and 10 hydrogen buses to replace the vehicles that have been in service in Madrid the longest, and are nearing the end of their useful life.

With EIB support, EMT will also acquire charging infrastructure to power the electric vehicles added to the city fleet. The financing will pay to equip one of its operations centres with this technology, located in Madrid's Sanchinarro district.

Using electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles and the accompanying infrastructure helps reduce the carbon footprint of transport and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as noise and pollution. The planned investments will increase the number of zero-emissions vehicles on the roads and improve the quality of public transport in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, adding a more sustainable alternative to meet the urban mobility needs of residents.

The operation is aligned with the EIB's Transport Lending Policy, which prioritises investments to improve the sustainability and resilience of existing transport infrastructure, along with new sustainable mobility projects. It also contributes to the EIB Group's goal of sustainable cities and regions and is in line with its objectives with respect to climate action and environmental sustainability, a cross-cutting line of action of the Bank.

The arrangement is in line with EU transport and mobility policies that have climate change mitigation as the objective, like the Clean Vehicles Directive and the Sustainable and the Smart Mobility Strategy.

At the local level, the project is part of the Madrid 360 Sustainable Mobility Plan that underpins the city's mobility policies to 2030, one strategy of which is helping to shift the fleet in use towards less polluting vehicles. Madrid currently has 30 zero-emissions bus lines, and is the city in Spain with the most routes that are fully electric.

The EIB and sustainable transport

The EIB finances projects that drive greener, safer and more accessible transport, in line with its Transport Lending Policy, updated in July 2022 following the adoption of the Climate Bank Roadmap and the European Green Deal. This policy sets the investment priorities needed to surmount the challenges facing the transport sector, and those most apt to power the shift to a more sustainable model. Sustainable transport is based on four interdependent pillars: It must be safe, accessible, green and efficient.

Find out more about the EIB's support for the transport sector here.

Background information

European Investment Bank

The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by the Member States. It finances sound investments to pursue EU policy objectives. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality.

The EIB Group, made up of the EIB and the European Investment Fund, reported total financing signatures in Spain of €11.4 billion in 2023, approximately €6.8 billion of which went to climate action and environmental sustainability projects. Overall, the EIB Group signed €88 billion in new financing in 2023.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.