Gothenburg will have a new public transport operator and new buses

The European Investment Bank will aid the city in its quest to fully electrify its public transit by 2030

Today, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it is taking part in a large-scale initiative that will see the gradual conversion of the public transport network in Gothenburg to becoming fully electrified by the year 2030. EIB, in conjunction with two other financial institutions, Mitshubishi UFG Financial Group and Societe Generale, will provide loan funding to the amount of SEK 1.2 billion (or more than 117 million euros) to Transdev – the new public transport operator of the Swedish city.

One of the first green-bus structured financing programmes in Europe

Transdev, a French company, won a 10-year contract to carry commuters in Sweden’s second-largest municipality, as well as to and within neighbouring municipalities. Its ambition is to use that period to transform this mode of transit to a zero-emission capacity.

“It’s a pleasure to see how, together with Societe Generale, EIB financing is helping Gothenburg shift to low-carbon sustainable models of transportation. Our support in this facility helps both the environment and the Swedish economy. The EIB, as the EU’s climate bank, is happy to work alongside Societe Generale in achieving our ambitious climate action targets. Projects, such as this one, are important steps in getting us there,” said Thomas Östros, Vice-President of EIB.

The structured financing will allow the company to acquire on lease 297 buses, 145 of which will be fully electric, and the others will run on low-carbon emitting biofuels.

These kinds of initiatives bind well with the strategies and visions of development adopted both by the European Investment Bank and the City of Gothenburg. The former has recently approved the “Climate Bank Roadmap”, which sets out that by 2025 half of all released funds will go towards projects that directly fight against climate change. And Gothenburg would like to be a role model for sustainable urban mobility on the continent.