UniCredit continues in its concrete commitment to support companies engaged in the transition towards sustainable production models and finalizes a financing operation for a total of 100 million euros to support the Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque (CVA), historic green energy company based in Aosta Valley Region.
UniCredit finances two lines of credit of 50 million each, one long-term and the other revolving credit facility, sustainability linked, that is they are loans closely linked to the sustainability perfor-mance of the company. In the specific case, the operation between UniCredit and CVA provides for the achievement of specific objectives that will be reached through the increase of the capacity to generate green energy from solar and wind sources as well as the reduction of direct and indirect CO2 emissions company-generated.
CVA is one of the most important Italian companies in the field of green energy, the only integrated producer that operates exclusively on renewable sources. The current installed capacity of the group is 1,104 MW, with an annual production of 2.8 billion kwh of energy that is produced in 32 hydroelectric plants, 4 photovoltaic parks and 3 wind farms distributed in Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Tuscany, Lazio, Puglia and Campania. The terms of the agreement, in 2023, will help the company to increase its installed capacity by 234 MW and reduce its own CO2 emissions by more than 50%.
“This important operation - says Paola Garibotti, Regional Manager Northwest of UniCredit – demonstrate our sensitivity both to the development of local businesses and environmental issues. We want to give our concrete contribution to the transformation of the economy in a sustainable way, encouraging investments that will increase the production of energy from renewable sources in Italy, also in line with the objectives of the PNRR".
“Sustainability is in the DNA of the CVA Group, which has always produced only clean energy", said Giuseppe Argirò, CEO. "The partnership with UniCredit is strategic and the fact that one of the most important Italian credit institutions supports our business model and our important industrial growth plan, is for us a further confirmation of the validity of our vision and our work".
In line with this collaboration UniCredit, last July, within its ESG strategy, has signed a partnership with CVA ENERGIE SRL for the supply of electricity produced from renewable sources. For the first time in Italy, a financial institution has committed to a corporate PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) with a specialist green power producer. The collaboration with CVA will permit the construction of three new solar plants in Piedmont, Lombardy and Sicily. The new solar plants for a total capacity of 25 MW will be operational from 2023, providing 35 GWh per year to supply the energy demand of UniCredit data centres in Verona, covering around 20% of the bank’s total electricity consumption in Italy. CVA will sell green energy to UniCredit at a set price, optimising the risk profile of the investment in its assets.