EIB loans £530 million to Severn Trent

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide a long-term loan of £530 million (about $808 million U.S.) to U.K. water company Severn Trent to support the firm’s five-year investment program. The loan will support Severn Trent’s proposed investment of nearly £3.3 billion in capital upgrades in the utility’s service territory, which reaches across the Midlands and mid-Wales and serves about 7.7 million people. Those upgrades include the £255 million Birmingham resilience project, which will involve the creation of a new water supply source for the city of Birmingham while Severn Trent repairs the Elan Valley Aqueduct. The overall investment program will aim to minimize flooding and improve water quality in the company’s service territory. “The new support represents one of the largest ever loans by the EIB for investment in the UK water sector and is testimony to the hard work done by Severn Trent in recent years and their ambitious plans for the future,” said Jonathan Taylor, an EIB vice president.