EIB could provide 500m-euro funding for CEZ wind farm

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is in negotiations with Czech energy group CEZ to provide a funding line for the 600-MW project that the Czechs will develop in Dobrogea (SE Romania) by 2010. This will be Europe's largest such project, with an overall value of 1.1 billion euro. According to EIB representatives, the bank could finance up to 50% of the investment, i.e. provide over 500 million euros in funding. "We are in negotiations to finance two renewable energy projects, one of which is the wind farm that CEZ will develop in Dobrogea. Our financing can cover up to half the value of the project, and we believe negotiations will be concluded by the end of the year," said Jean-Christophe Laloux, EIB's Director for Lending Operations in South East Europe. According to him, the financing scheme could also include commercial banks. "Talks are being held in parallel both with CEZ representatives in Prague and with Romanian ones," Laloux also specified.