Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
EDF and EIB finalize a €500M deal to enhance France's power grid, focusing on renewable energy integration and infrastructure upgrades.
(Reuters) -French utility EDF and the European Investment Bank on Friday announced a 500 million euro ($585.4 million) financing deal for the second phase of a 1 billion euro overhaul of France's public electricity network.
European electricity grids have come under scrutiny in recent years as excess renewable energy production has raised interest in cross-border connections, and reinforcement is needed to upgrade and protect grids against climate change.
The second phase of financing will cover about 40% of the investment cost for the connection of 7 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity and more than 2,500 kilometres of underground or distribution line replacement by EDF's subsidiary Enedis, the joint statement said.
Nearly 90% of the wind and solar energy produced in France is integrated into the distribution network managed by Enedis.
EU governments agreed in June to lift the annual lending of the bloc's powerful European Investment Bank to 100 billion euros this year and treble its funding for the EU's defence industry.
($1 = 0.8542 euros)
(Reporting by Alban Kacher in Gdansk and Forrest Crellin in Paris; Editing by Jan Harvey, Alexandra Hudson)
The financing deal announced by EDF and the European Investment Bank is valued at 500 million euros, which is approximately $585.4 million.
The second phase of financing will cover about 40% of the investment cost for connecting 7 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity and over 2,500 kilometers of underground or distribution lines.
Nearly 90% of the wind and solar energy produced in France is integrated into the distribution network managed by Enedis.
EU governments agreed in June to increase the annual lending of the European Investment Bank to 100 billion euros this year and to triple its funding for the EU's defense industry.
The total investment planned for the overhaul of France's power grid is 1 billion euros.
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