The European Investment Bank on Wednesday approved four investment proposals by Greece’s Environment and Energy Ministry, including two for new buses.
The European Union’s credit institution approved two proposals for buses running on electricity and on hydrogen, a proposal for heat pumps in greenhouses, and one proposal about heat pumps in municipal swimming pools.
The total amount of the investments, termed “priority investments,” comes to 208 million euros.
As the ministry notes, the new electric buses and hydrogen buses will contribute to upgrading the public transportation fleet, replacing 150 old and polluting buses and improving citizens’ daily lives.
In addition, the proposals for the heat pumps relate to support plans that will be implemented through invitations to interested parties and will boost the primary sector’s productivity process.
The final decision for the disbursement of the funds will be made on April 1 at the biannual conference of the Modernization Fund through a voting process among all fund members. The Modernization Fund is an EU program to support 13 member-states (Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia).
Greece is represented in the fund by the Environment and Energy Ministry. It expects its energy actions to be supported by the fund to the tune of approximately €1.3-1.5 billion by 2030.