The European Investment Bank has approved up to €345 million in financing for Italian energy company Alperia to fund upgrades to hydropower plants, electricity grids, electric vehicle charging points and district heating networks in South Tyrol.
The first €200 million tranche of the funding was signed on 1 July 2026 by the bank’s Director General and Head of EU Lending and Advisory Jean-Christophe Laloux and Alperia chief executive Luis Amort, according to the European Investment Bank's release issued on Friday.
The financing is structured as a Green Loan — a label the bank uses for lending aligned with its climate action and environmental sustainability criteria — and is intended to support refurbishment and modernisation of existing hydropower plants, upgrades to electricity distribution networks, development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and expansion of district heating.
Alperia’s hydropower investments cover major generation plants in South Tyrol that produce more than 3,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, an amount the bank said is enough to power around 1.16 million households in Italy.
What the funding will cover
Investment in electricity networks is expected to help meet additional power demand of around 140 GWh and support the installation of around 400 electric vehicle charging stations, the European Investment Bank said.
District heating investment is set to connect more than 200 buildings through the expansion of the existing network.
“Accelerating investment is essential to help energy operators reduce their environmental footprint over the long term and ensure safer, more resilient systems,” Laloux stated.
Amort said the financing would support Alperia’s investment plans in hydropower plants, electricity grids, electric mobility and district heating.
