With our sustainable financial instruments, we contribute to the achievement of global sustainability goals.
We actively contribute to the public debate on sustainable finance and engage in dialogue with leading sustainability rating agencies. Our sustainable financial instruments underpin our corporate strategy to develop into a sustainable and innovative infrastructure partner.
Sustainable finance at EnBW
Sustainable financial products contribute to the achievement of the Paris climate targets and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. A further focus of sustainable finance is sustainability in business.
Having already issued several green bonds since 2018, we have additionally incorporated sustainability into other financing instruments with a sustainable syndicated credit line issued by EnBW AG and a green promissory note loan issued by subsidiary VNG AG in 2020.
Green bonds
We issued our first green bond on the capital market in October 2018 and have since issued green bonds totalling €5.5 billion.
In accordance with our Green Financing Framework, the proceeds from all of our green bonds are exclusively used in the areas of renewable energies (onshore wind, offshore wind, solar/PV), electricity grids (electricity distribution grids), energy efficiency projects (smart meters) and clean transport (charging infrastructure for e-mobility). They play a key role in helping us to achieve our non-financial key performance indicators covering the “expansion of renewable energies,” “climate change mitigation” and “security of supply”.
For independent assessments of EnBW green bonds, we have obtained both a Second Party Opinion from ISS ESG and CBI certification for all of our green bonds.
Full information on our green bonds, Green Financing Framework, Green Bond Impact Report and more is available here.
Sustainability-linked syndicated credit line
The sustainability-linked syndicated credit line signed in July 2024 has a volume of €2 billion including an option to increase the facility by €500 million. It replaces the already sustainability-linked €1.5 billion credit facility from 2020 ahead of schedule. The credit line has an initial term of five years with two one-year extension options. It is earmarked for general corporate purposes.
EnBW has ambitious emission reduction targets which are geared to achieving carbon neutrality by 2035. The sustainability indicators tied to the borrowing costs of the syndicated credit line were selected accordingly. These include the reduction of CO₂ emissions in Scope 1 and 2 and for the first time a reduction pathway of CO₂ emissions in Scope 3. The share of EU Taxonomy-aligned investments was also newly included. These indicators are of major importance to EnBW’s core business and consequently for corporate management. EnBW’s borrowing costs for the credit line are reduced or increased according to target achievement on the sustainability indicators.
Green promissory note
In February 2020, our subsidiary, Leipzig-based VNG AG, issued its first green promissory note loan with a total volume of €100 million. The loan, obtained in four tranches with terms of seven or ten years each, can be used exclusively for environmentally sustainable purposes.
With the first digital green promissory note in the Group’s history, VNG is in line with its VNG 2030+ strategy, which places the medium to long-term focus on green gases – primarily biogas plus renewable and decarbonised hydrogen.