The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group has approved raising the funding volume for clean energy projects developed under the European Union’s (EU) REPowerEU plan and Green Deal Industrial Plan by 50% to €45 billion (~$50.28 billion).

The added financing is expected to support the EU’s clean energy targets and manufacturing capacity for strategic net zero technologies and products. It would also support the extraction, processing, and recycling of critical raw materials.

The funding represents a 50% increase over the €30 billion (~$33.51 billion) package announced under the REPowerEU last year.

The additional funding will be deployed by 2027 and is expected to help mobilize over €150 billion (~$167.57 billion) investments in the clean energy sectors.

The sectors expected to benefit from the funding include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, onshore and offshore wind, battery storage, heat pumps, geothermal, electrolyzers, fuel cells, sustainable biogas, carbon capture and storage, and grid technologies.

The scope of eligible projects is expanded to align the EIB’s REPowerEU package with the EU Commission’s Green Deal Industrial Plan.

In October last year, company heads of 13 leading European solar organizations had urged the European Commission to call for action to boost investment in the continent’s solar photovoltaic industrial base and reinforce its solar deployment and energy security ambitions.

The bank also approved an additional €10 billion (~$11.17 billion) in loans for wind and solar projects in Spain and Austria, grid upgrades in Italy, and an electric vehicle battery manufacturing gigafactory in France.

EIB President Werner Hoyer said, “We are deploying the full range of our available financial firepower to support Europe’s industrial competitiveness, manufacturing, and the rollout of critical technologies that will lead us to a swift and just transition to net zero.”

The EIB Board also announced raising the minimum target for its share of annual lending towards climate action and environmental sustainability from 50% to 52% between 2025 and 2027, as it already has achieved its target of 50% in 2022.

Recently, EIB and Spain-based independent power producer Iberdrola signed a loan agreement worth €1 billion (~$1.07 billion) to build 22 renewable energy projects with an installed capacity of 2.2 GW.

In March this year, the European Parliament and the Council provisionally agreed to raise the European Union’s binding renewable target to a minimum of 42.5% by 2030, up from 32%.