- The European Union’s bank is providing a €350 million guarantee to build a portfolio of bank guarantees for grid component manufacturers. BNP Paribas is committing an equivalent amount.
- This risk-sharing operation aims to increase BNP Paribas’ capacity to support European manufacturers of electricity grid components and enable them to meet the strong demand generated by the energy transition.
- The initiative is supported by the European Union’s InvestEU programme.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and BNP Paribas have signed an agreement in support of European energy grids, confirming their shared commitment to the energy transition, European industrial competitiveness and Europe’s security of supply.
The EIB will provide up to €350 million in counter-guarantees, enabling BNP Paribas, which will commit an equivalent amount, to build a portfolio of bank guarantees (on behalf of its clients) of up to €700 million to support new investment in energy grids across the European Union. The leverage generated by this counter-guarantee is expected to stimulate up to €2.8 billion in investment in the real economy.
This risk-sharing operation aims to increase BNP Paribas’ capacity to support European manufacturers of electricity grid components and enable them to meet the strong demand generated by the energy transition.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: “ We are pleased to continue our cooperation with BNP Paribas on Europe’s energy security and green transition. Following our agreement on wind energy last year, we have now concluded a risk-sharing agreement to support companies manufacturing the equipment essential for developing energy grids. In 2025, the EIB Group invested €33 billion in energy worldwide, including €11.6 billion in grids and storage. In 2026, we are continuing this commitment with the same level of ambition. ”
Rodolphe Vergeaud, Co-Head of Transaction Banking, Head of Trade and Working Capital BNP Paribas CIB EMEA, said: “Strengthening Europe’s electricity grids requires mobilising all players throughout the value chain. This agreement with the EIB enables us to go further in supporting manufacturers of essential electricity grid components by increasing our capacity to meet their guarantee needs and support their development.”
This agreement with BNP Paribas forms part of the €1.5 billion package dedicated to developing, modernising and strengthening energy grids in the European Union (the “Pan-EU Power Grid package”), an initiative supported by the European Union’s InvestEU programme. This package follows the €6.5 billion previously made available by the European Union’s bank for wind energy . The EIB and BNP Paribas are also partners in the wind energy initiative, with a €1 billion guarantee portfolio under an agreement signed in February 2025.
As the European Union’s leading bank and a key player in international banking, BNP Paribas operates in 64 countries and territories and has more than 180 000 employees, including over 146 000 in Europe. The Group’s activities are organised around three main operating divisions: Commercial, Personal Banking & Services, which covers all commercial banks and several specialised businesses; Investment & Protection Services, which provides savings, investment and protection solutions; and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which connects corporate and institutional clients. Drawing on a strong, diversified and integrated model, the Group supports all its clients — individuals, entrepreneurs, SMEs, large companies and institutional investors — in carrying out their projects by offering financing, investment, savings and protection services. The Group has longstanding operations in four euro-area markets: France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg. A leading international banking player, the Group has leading platforms and businesses in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas, and a solid and rapidly growing footprint in Asia-Pacific. BNP Paribas applies a corporate social and environmental responsibility approach across all its activities, enabling it to contribute to building a sustainable future while safeguarding the Group’s performance and stability.
The European Investment Bank Group (the 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 assignments in support of more than 870 high-impact projects spanning eight core priorities that support the achievement of the EU’s major objectives : climate action and the environment, digital transition 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 a growing role in Europe’s venture debt, venture capital, guarantee and securitisation markets.
InvestEU provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging 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 the EU’s many financial instruments together under a single structure, InvestEU makes financing investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: 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 European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is the programme’s main implementing partner.
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