Spain: EIB and Nilsa join forces to invest in wastewater treatment in Navarra

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

• The EIB and Nilsa have signed a €36.5 million loan to build and modernise wastewater treatment facilities in Navarra, Spain.
• New plants to be constructed in towns with more than 100 inhabitants and up to 250 inhabitants.
• The financing will contribute to Navarra’s 2023-2030 sanitation investment plan.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Nilsa, a public company under the auspices of the Department of Territorial Cohesion of the Government of Navarra, have signed a €36.5 million loan to finance the construction and modernisation of wastewater treatment facilities in the region.

The loan will mainly be used to improve and renovate existing wastewater treatment facilities, some of which are almost thirty years old, to the treatment of sludge from wastewater and, to the construction of new facilities in towns with more than 100 inhabitants and up to 250 inhabitants. From 250 inhabitants onwards, Navarra has wastewater treatment in all its towns and villages.

This loan is another example of how the EIB contributes to environmental sustainability and helps create a circular economy in vital areas such as effective wastewater management. In the case of Navarra, the installation of solar panels at wastewater treatment plants has been assessed as a support measure to comply with the European objective of carbon neutrality in the wastewater treatment process. The treatment of sludges for soil application will be fostered with the consequent benefit for agriculture and the environment. The use of sludges will also generate savings for farmers as part of a process that pays special attention to the circular economy.

Background information

EIB

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that further EU policy objectives. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality.

The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), reported total financing signatures in Spain of €11.4 billion in 2023, approximately €6.8 billion of which went to climate action and environmental sustainability projects. In total, the EIB Group signed €88 billion in new financing in 2023.

Nilsa

Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales, S.A. (NILSA) is a public company of the Government of Navarra, whose mission is the purification of wastewater and the monitoring and implementation of the Master Plan for the Urban Water Cycle 2019-2030, approved by the Parliament of Navarra in 2019. Attached to the Department of Territorial Cohesion of the Regional Government, it was created in 1989 as the management instrument of the River Sanitation Plan in Navarre, which has been taken over and updated in the new master plan of 2019, in a clear strategy of continuing environmental protection of the rivers and guaranteeing access to water in optimum conditions.