EIB grants €75m to ALFA Srl to improve integrated water services in Varese

The planned interventions will help to counter the water crisis affecting Italy and are in line with the Paris Agreements and the goals of the EIB Climate Bank Roadmap.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted €75 million in financing to ALFA Srl — the public company that manages integrated water services in the province of Varese — to enhance the quality of integrated water services, reduce water losses and improve energy efficiency for the benefit of local residents.

The planned interventions will help to counter the water crisis affecting Italy and are in line with the Paris Agreements and the goals of the EIB Climate Bank Roadmap.

EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti said: “Given the drought state of emergency brought on by a long period without rain and the water crisis affecting Italy, it is more important than ever to invest in infrastructure to reduce water losses and improve energy efficiency. On average, 40% of the water fed into Italy's distribution network does not reach taps in people's homes. Projects like that signed with ALFA help to reduce losses significantly, with a view to improving the coverage, quality and resilience of water services. This is the only way to guarantee the safety, supply and sustainable management of water in Italy and across Europe.”

ALFA Srl President Paolo Mazzucchelli added: “This is a key step for ALFA, now that it has finished its pooling of all the province's water companies, merging them into the company I represent today. After two years of strong qualitative and quantitative growth, partially thanks to our industrial partnership with CAP Holding S.p.A., ALFA can finally engage with the financial world. With the valuable support of the EIB — an institution that is very attentive to the needs of the water sector and, more generally, to environmental issues — we can implement a €151 million investment programme with €75 million in co-financing from the EIB. These funds will be used for vital interventions and works on the ground, with positive effects not only for the quality of life of residents, but also for sustainability-focused economic and social development.”

The EU bank support will enable ALFA to enhance the coverage and quality of integrated water services, with the aim of reducing water losses and improving its energy efficiency for the benefit of local residents and the area served. The project also includes investment in urban drainage systems intended to improve the resilience of existing infrastructure to extreme weather events.

EIB estimates indicate that a number of jobs will be created during the project's implementation phase, with ALFA alone recruiting 45 full-time employees to support the increase in its service area.

This financing for ALFA — its first from the EIB — comes in addition to agreements recently signed with several Italian operators in the sector.