REM: IFC provides €500mn green loan to Engie

France’s Engie has been granted a landmark sustainability-linked green loan worth €500mn ($534mn) from the International Finance Corporation, the organisation announced on October 3.

The financing will be used by the French power firm to increase its portfolio of renewable energy projects in emerging markets. In particular, financing will be assigned to projects that support Poland’s decarbonisation and strengthen energy security in South Africa, which frequently suffers power shortages and is forced to resort to loadshedding.

Attached to the IFC’s loan are climate targets Engie is expected to hit, such as Engie’s goal to phase out coal use by 2025 in continental Europe and around the world by 2027. As part of the loan, the Paris-headquartered company is also expected to make commitments to innovative occupational health and safety.

The loan is expected to facilitate the development of about 1.7 GW of renewable energy capacity by the end of 2026 and help avoid about 3.9mn tonnes per year (tpy) of carbon dioxide.

Engie hopes by 2025 to expand its global portfolio of green energy projects to 50 GW and reach 80 GW by 2030.

The loan will be co-financed by two additional development finance institutions, namely the Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Moreover, the IFC will mobilise €340mn ($373mn) in development and commercial capital from a group of seven private credit insurers. The financing marks the IFC’s biggest credit insurance mobilisation for one client.

“As countries around the world face energy transition challenges, we are actively mobilising 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,” IFC’s Global Industry Director Valerie Levkov said in a statement.

The IFC is world’s biggest development institution working with the private sector in developing countries. In fiscal year 2024, the organisation provided private firms and financial institutions in emerging countries with a record $56bn.

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