(AGENPARL) – lun 14 novembre 2022 PRESS RELEASE
2022-484-EN
14 November 2022
EIB supports energy renovation of Vonovia buildings
Germany’s largest private provider of rental homes wants to increase the energy efficiency of thousands of apartments.
The EIB is contributing €600 million towards total upgrade costs of €2.3 billion.
Vonovia hopes to make its housing portfolio climate neutral by 2045.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €600 million loan to support Vonovia SE’s energy-efficient building renovation scheme. Expected to total €2.3 billion, the project involves the renovation of thousands of rental apartments with the aim of saving substantial amounts of energy. This will be done by insulating roofs and facades and switching to hybrid heating systems that use renewable energy, such as solar photovoltaic systems in combination with heat pumps. The financing will also cover energy-efficient new builds, increasing the size of the housing portfolio.
Vonovia is the largest private provider of rental homes in the low to medium price segment in Germany. It has set itself the target of making its portfolio of around 550 000 apartments, most of which are in Germany, virtually climate neutral by 2045. The plan is to upgrade at least 3% of the apartments each year to make them energy efficient. The EIB-backed renovation project does not include the portfolio of the recently acquired Deutsche Wohnen based in Berlin.
The project will help to reduce CO2 emissions from buildings, which account for around 30% of CO2 emissions in Germany. It meets the criteria of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the conditions of the EU Taxonomy for refinancing through green bonds.
The EIB expects the financing to encourage other investors such as commercial banks and capital market investors to start financing the energy renovation of buildings as well.
These renovations bring enormous benefits, such as a significant reduction in the energy consumption of upgraded apartments. This means that rent increases tied to upgrade costs will be more than compensated for through lower heating costs for tenants, providing an affordable way for them to help protect the climate.
Vonovia also uses a decarbonisation tool that digitally maps the entire portfolio and uses algorithms to determine the current and future greenhouse gas emissions of each individual building. This tool digitally benchmarks the emission reductions of each home against the 1.5 degrees Celsius Paris Agreement target, thus determining the ideal time for renovation.
EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle, who oversees financing in Germany, says: “Together with Vonovia, we are committed to renovating residential buildings to make them energy efficient and thus contribute to achieving the European Union’s climate goals. We are particularly pleased that Vonovia has committed to make its entire housing portfolio climate neutral by 2045, with long-term affordable rents.”
“The EIB is the ideal partner for our sustainable investment strategy, while also providing very attractive loan terms. It is helping us to make significant headway in achieving our goal of making our building portfolio virtually climate neutral by 2045. This will benefit the climate, our customers and society as a whole,” says Philip Grosse, chief financial officer of Vonovia. An energy-efficient apartment means less energy consumption in the long term and therefore lower energy bills. “This is precisely what matters: protecting the climate needs to remain affordable for our tenants,” explains Grosse, describing the cooperation with the EIB as “extremely valuable.”
Background information
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. The EIB’s key priorities are climate and the environment, development, innovation and skills, small and medium-sized enterprises, infrastructure and cohesion. It works closely with other EU institutions to foster European integration, further develop the European Union and promote EU policy objectives in more than 140 countries worldwide.
Vonovia SE is a German real estate group based in Bochum. The company owns over 550 000 apartments in Germany, Austria and Sweden. Its priority is to implement the energy transition in its building portfolio. Back in 2020, Vonovia drew up a climate plan containing binding interim targets on its way to achieving a virtually climate-neutral portfolio.
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