Euro bank offers financing to İşbank to back renewable energy projects

ISTANBUL

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said it is providing İşbank, Turkey’s largest private bank, with $55 million in financing to support small-scale renewable energy and resource efficiency projects in the country.

In a statement on Dec. 7, the EBRD said the funds are extended under its renewed Turkey Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (TurSEFF), a dedicated framework originally aimed at financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to enhance their energy efficiency and invest in renewable energy.

In the previous stages of the TurSEFF framework, 600 million euros have been provided by the EBRD, the European Investment Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to Turkish partner banks for industrial energy efficiency projects, financing for vendors and producers of qualifying green equipment and small-scale renewable investments such as solar PV, biomass and biogas, read the statement.

The EBRD financing is extended through an investment in “A-” rated senior notes issued under İşbank’s Diversified Payment Rights (DPR) securitization program, an established market instrument used by Turkish banks to raise long-term funding.

The EBRD is a major investor in Turkey. To date, the bank has invested over 9.5 billion euros in various sectors of Turkey’s economy, with almost all investments in the private sector.

In 2017, the bank signed more than 30 projects worth more than 1 billion euros and expects to exceed 1.5 billion euros in investments this year.