The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it has provided a €435 million loan to Rome-based water utility Acea with the primary goal of strengthening and improving infrastructure for more efficient and resilient water services.

Acea is Italy’s biggest water service operator, serving around nine million residents of Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, Molise and Campania.

A transaction signed by EIB Director General of Operations Jean-Christophe Laloux and Acea chief financial officer Sabrina Di Bartolomeo is the first €235 million tranche of a loan totalling €435 million approved by the EIB directors.

“The EIB is co-financing the 2023-2026 investment plan of Acea Ato 2, the Acea Group company responsible for managing water services in Rome and the surrounding area,” said the EIB.

“The aim is to help modernise water and wastewater infrastructure, improving integrated water service coverage and quality and making operational efficiency gains such as cutting water losses and increasing energy efficiency.

“The EIB funds will also contribute to making water services more resilient to future extreme weather events such as drought via investments in network efficiency, the interconnection of water systems and water resource management.

“This operation confirms the EIB’s position as Acea’s biggest key lender with around €1 billion in total allocations, further consolidating the already excellent relationship between the two organisations.”

The EIB said Italy has been the biggest beneficiary of EIB resources for the water sector from 2016 to 2022. “The EIB financed 40 operations in the country during this period, providing a total of €2.9 billion and helping to unlock about €8.9 billion in investment,” said the EIB.

“The loan to Acea announced today comes in addition to those recently signed with CAP Group, Tea Spa, Alfa S.r.l, Veritas, SMAT, Iren Group, CIIP and Acque.”