IFC Lends €500 Million To ENGIE

A member of the World Bank Group, The International Finance Corporation (IFC), has announced a groundbreaking €500 million (approximately $534 million) green and sustainability-linked loan to ENGIE S.A., the parent company of the ENGIE Group. This financing is designed to speed up ENGIE’s expansion into renewable energy across emerging markets, while supporting its broader decarbonization efforts. Additionally, the loan will contribute to Poland’s ambitious decarbonization goals and bolster energy security in South Africa by advancing clean energy solutions.

The loan includes stringent climate targets alongside commitments to occupational health and safety. Co-financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Proparco, the loan demonstrates a collaborative approach to climate finance. Notably, IFC is also mobilizing €340 million in commercial and development capital from 7 private credit insurers, marking IFC’s largest-ever credit insurance mobilization for a single client. This diverse funding pool strengthens ENGIE’s financial strategy while advancing sustainable development.

Commenting on this, Global Industry Director of IFC, Valérie Levkov, said, "The partnership between ENGIE and IFC spans nearly three decades, with landmark projects across continents and sectors. As countries around the world face energy transition challenges, we are actively mobilizing private capital and deepening our strategic ENGIE-IFC partnership so the company can further invest in clean, affordable, and reliable energy that is accessible to all, paving the way for a greener, more resilient future.”

The loan is structured to align with ENGIE’s sustainability objectives, including the company’s commitment to phasing out coal by 2025 in Europe and globally by 2027. ENGIE also aims to build a 50 GW renewable energy portfolio by 2025, expanding to 80 GW by 2030, significantly advancing global climate goals. By enabling the development of 1.7 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2027, the loan is expected to help avoid approximately 3.9 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

ENGIE's Group Head of Structured Finance, Adrien Koenig, noted, “To accelerate the energy transition, considerable resources and efforts are needed from many stakeholders. Our partnership with IFC is certainly a meaningful contribution and we feel grateful for what they achieved with this financing. We are also proud to highlight the innovative structure of this most recent corporate loan, which includes climate-related targets for scope 3 emissions and a health and safety performance indicator that covers ENGIE employees and subcontractors on all sites, reflecting ENGIE’s sustainability ambitions."

This financing follows IFC’s $400 million support for ENGIE Energía Chile S.A. in 2023, further strengthening clean energy supply in Chile through the shift from fossil fuels to renewable power. The ENGIE-IFC partnership continues to highlight the pivotal role of sustainable infrastructure development and renewable energy in driving the global energy transition, as IFC advances scalable, low-carbon solutions that propel the world towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.