Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2663 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a USD 350 million financing package with Gulf Renewable Energy Company Limited (GRE), a subsidiary of Thailand's Gulf Development Public Company Limited (GULF), to fund three renewable-energy projects: two solar-plus-battery energy storage system (BESS) plants totaling 126 MW with 151 MWh of storage, and a 68 MW solar power plant. ADB provided USD 75 million from its own ordinary capital resources and acted as sole mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, mobilizing a further USD 275 million from a DBS Bank B-loan, parallel loans from DEG, Development Finance Institute Canada and Export Finance Australia, and the ADB-administered Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP 2). The projects are expected to cut an average of 191,550 tons of CO2 emissions annually, supporting Thailand's 2050 net-zero target.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed aggregate loan agreements totaling THB 16.6 billion (about $511.9 million) with 12 companies indirectly owned by Gulf Waste to Energy Holdings Company Limited (GWTE), a subsidiary of Thailand's Gulf Development Public Company Limited (GULF). ADB provided THB 3.0 billion ($91.9 million) from its own ordinary capital resources and acted as environmental and social coordinator mobilizing a further THB 13.6 billion ($420.0 million) from six parallel lenders. The financing funds development, construction and operation of 12 industrial waste-to-energy power plants totaling 96 MW of contracted capacity in Thailand's central and eastern industrial regions, and is described by ADB as the country's first large-scale industrial WTE project, implementing Thailand's 2023 polluter-pays waste disposal code and 2nd National Action Plan on Waste Management.

The European Commission approved on 28 January 2026, under EU State aid rules (Article 107(3)(c) TFEU and the 2022 Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy), a EUR 3.1 billion Spanish scheme to support electricity production from new or substantially refurbished high-efficiency combined heat and power (CHP) plants. The scheme runs for ten years (28 January 2026 to 27 January 2036) and pays a two-component reward premium — investment compensation set through competitive auctions plus quarterly-updated operational compensation tied to electricity, fuel and CO2 prices — to CHP operators using natural gas (with a minimum 10% renewable-hydrogen-ready capability), bioliquids, biogas, or solid biomass. The Commission found the scheme's positive effects on Spain's energy-efficiency and decarbonisation targets outweigh potential competition distortions.

On 20 December 2025, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) signed a USD 750 million dual-tranche senior secured reserve-based lending facility for Heirs Energies Limited, a Nigerian upstream oil and gas producer chaired by Tony O. Elumelu, at a ceremony in Abuja. Afreximbank acted as Mandated Lead Arranger, Facility Agent and Security Agent; the facility is intended to optimise Heirs Energies' capital structure and fund working capital as the company pursues its field development programme on OML 17, where it produces roughly 50,000 barrels per day plus associated and non-associated gas supplying three power plants that account for about 15% of Nigeria's installed electricity-generation capacity. Global Trade Alert logs the transaction as a state-linked loan intervention given Afreximbank's supranational, treaty-based public-development-finance mandate.

The European Commission cleared a EUR 172 million Dutch state-aid measure to fund preparatory activities of Nucleaire Energie Organisatie Nederland B.V. ("NEO NL"), the state-owned holding company the Dutch cabinet is establishing to develop two new nuclear power plants. The financing — provided as a state loan/capital contribution against a cabinet-requested ceiling of up to EUR 222 million for 2026-27 — covers technology-vendor selection, licensing work and other pre-construction preparation, and does not itself cover plant construction or operation. The Commission found the measure compatible with EU state-aid rules as contributing to decarbonisation of the Dutch energy mix.

The US Department of Energy selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to receive up to $800 million in combined federal cost-shared funding — $400 million each — to accelerate deployment of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs). TVA's award backs a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 unit at the Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, targeted to be the nation's first commercial SMR (commercial operation targeted early 2030s), with domestic supply-chain partners Scot Forge, North American Forgemasters, BWX Technologies and Aecon. Holtec's award backs deployment of two SMR-300 units at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station site in Covert, Michigan. The program is intended to expand US SMR manufacturing capacity and seed follow-on domestic and export supply chains.

On 30 November 2025 the African Development Bank Group's Board of Directors approved a USD 16.5 million loan to OrPower Twenty-Two (OTTL), an independent power producer, to support development of a 35 MW geothermal power plant in Kenya's Menengai field. The loan is part of a USD 64.4 million debt package (alongside expected IFC co-financing) against an estimated USD 91.9 million total project cost. Global Trade Alert logs the transaction as a state-linked development-finance intervention.

The UK government confirmed Wylfa on Anglesey, North Wales as the site for the country's first government-backed small modular reactor (SMR) power station, committing over GBP 2.5 billion (~USD 3.3bn) to the programme via state-owned developer Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N). GBE-N named Rolls-Royce SMR as preferred bidder, with an initial three-reactor deployment (scope for five more) targeting grid connection by the mid-2030s and up to 1.5GW of capacity — enough to power roughly three million homes. Site work is set to begin in 2026, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 100 million (SEK 1.1 billion) loan agreement with Holmen, a Swedish forest-industry group, to finance the expansion of the company's onshore wind generation capacity in northern Sweden's electricity price regions. The financing, signed 30 October 2025 and announced via EIB press release on 3 November 2025, supports the European Commission's RePowerEU initiative and is intended to strengthen energy-intensive industry supply and Europe's clean-power resilience. Global Trade Alert logged the loan as a state-loan intervention on 30 October 2025.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank provided a CAD 42 million (approx. USD 30.7 million) repayable loan to George Gordon Development Limited (GGDL), the economic-development arm of George Gordon First Nation, to fund the Wicehtowak Solar project — a 32.4 MW solar facility in the Rural Municipality of Dufferin, Saskatchewan. The loan enables GGFN to acquire full ownership of the project, which will supply Saskatchewan's grid under a 30-year virtual power purchase agreement with SaskPower and deliver power directly to the adjacent K+S Potash Canada mine. Natural Resources Canada separately provided a CAD 33 million grant under the Smart Renewables Electrification Pathways Program toward the same project.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 90 million loan agreement with Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) on 22 October 2025 (press release published 30 October 2025) to finance safety and modernisation upgrades at the Olkiluoto 1 and 2 nuclear reactors in Finland, including automation and control-system updates and replacement of steam-separator components. The improvements are required under Finnish and EU nuclear-safety legislation and will be implemented progressively over a multi-year timeline. Olkiluoto supplies about 28% of Finland's electricity.

On 23 October 2025, Canada's federal Canada Growth Fund (CGF) and the Government of Ontario's Building Ontario Fund (BOF) announced an equity commitment agreement to finance the Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP) small modular reactor (SMR) build, led by Ontario Power Generation (OPG). CGF committed up to CAD 2 billion (USD 1.43bn) for a 15% minority stake and BOF committed up to CAD 1 billion (USD 713.5m) for a 7.5% minority stake, with OPG remaining majority owner and operator. The combined CAD 3 billion package funds construction of four grid-scale SMRs — the first commercial SMR deployment among G7 nations — targeting first-unit grid connection by end-2030.

The European Investment Bank led a EUR 318 million non-recourse project-financing package for AB Ignitis Grupė, signed 22 October 2025, to fund the design, construction and operation of the 314 MW Kelmė onshore wind farm in western Lithuania. The EIB provided EUR 100 million of the package, alongside EUR 98.5 million from Swedbank, EUR 79.5 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and EUR 40 million from the Nordic Investment Bank, against a total project cost of approximately EUR 550 million. The plant, comprising 44 Nordex N163/6.X turbines, became operational in June 2025 and is the largest wind farm in the Baltic states, supplying power equivalent to roughly 250,000 Lithuanian households.

India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved an INR 8,146.21 crore (~USD 980 million) investment proposal for the 700 MW (4x175 MW) Tato-II Hydro Electric Project in Shi Yomi district, Arunachal Pradesh, to be built over 72 months by a joint venture between North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) and the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. The Government of India component consists of INR 436.13 crore in central financial assistance toward the state's equity share plus INR 458.79 crore in budgetary support for enabling infrastructure (roads, bridges, transmission lines) — together INR 894.92 crore (~USD 108 million) of direct central subsidy. Arunachal Pradesh receives 12% free power and a 1% local-area-development-fund allocation from project output.

The European Investment Bank signed a EUR 221.5 million green loan with Albasolar Srl (a project vehicle of promoter GreenIT SpA) on 5 August 2025 to finance the "ALBA SOLAR PV GREEN LOAN" project: development, construction and operation of a portfolio of roughly 14 solar PV plants across Italy totalling 383 MWp, with individual plant capacities ranging 5-80 MWp. The loan was disbursed as three tranches signed the same day (EUR 7.75m, EUR 42.75m and EUR 171.0m), against an EIB-estimated total project cost of approximately EUR 400 million and proposed EIB financing of up to EUR 250 million.

On 12 June 2025, the African Development Bank Group's Board of Directors approved a USD 184.1 million financing package for the Obelisk Solar Project in Qena Governorate, southern Egypt — billed as Africa's largest solar-plus-storage project, combining a 1-gigawatt solar photovoltaic installation with a 200 MWh battery energy storage system. The AfDB package is composed of USD 125.5 million from ordinary resources, USD 20 million from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), USD 18.6 million from the Canada-AfDB Climate Fund, and USD 20 million from the Climate Investment Funds' Clean Technology Fund. The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company will off-take the power under a 25-year agreement. Total project cost exceeds USD 590 million, with commercial operation targeted for Q3 2026.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank committed CAD 108.3 million (approx. USD 78.9 million) to the 102.2-megawatt Mesgi'g Ugju's'n 2 (MU2) wind farm in the Gespe'gewa'gi (Gaspesie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine) region of Quebec. The financing comprises a CAD 15.8 million equity loan to the Mi'gmawei Mawiomi Business Corporation (MMBC) — CIB's first Indigenous equity loan in Quebec — and a CAD 92.5 million construction loan for the project as a whole. MU2 is a partnership between MMBC, representing the Gesgapegiag, Gespeg and Listuguj Mi'gmaq communities, and Innergex Renewable Energy Inc., with a 30-year power purchase agreement with Hydro-Quebec.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank closed a CAD 97 million (approx. USD 70.7 million) loan to finance the 84-megawatt Wedgeport Wind project in the Municipal District of Argyle, Nova Scotia. The project is a partnership between Elemental Energy, Stevens Wind and Sipekne'katik First Nation (SFN), and comprises 12 Nordex seven-megawatt turbines built under Nova Scotia's Rate Based Procurement process. It is CIB's second partnership with Elemental Energy and SFN following an earlier Nova Scotia wind deal.