Water supplier Aqualia last year received a €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) green syndicated loan, coordinated by Caixabank, to support projects in sustainable water and waste treatment, renewable energy and clean transport in connection with its core activities.

The loan will be used for improved energy efficiency at wastewater plants, improved energy consumption and water leakage in its water supply systems, desalination plants with a low carbon intensity, generation of hydroelectric energy with low lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, transport vehicles with zero GHG emissions from 2026, and the building of anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and bio-waste facilities for electricity generation with minimisation of methane leakage.

"It is a significant milestone in 2023 that almost 50% of our EBITDA will come from our international activities," said Isidoro Marbán, CFO of Aqualia. "But we do not want to measure our business exclusively in economic terms; we also strive to constantly improve the seven lines of our sustainability strategy."

As of the end of 2022, Aqualia had made the following environmental progress as part of its Green Financing Framework and Strategic Sustainability Plan. It had increased its renewable energy usage to 34.15%, with a 50% target by 2030, reduced its energy usage by more than the 3% target, reduced non-registered water by 1%, nearing its 2023 goal, and overseen a 13% adoption of low emissions vehicles in its Spanish fleet.

One IMPACT Awards judge commended Aqualia for its "large scale and diverse geographical impact".

DNV provided a second opinion on the loan, which was aligned with the Loan Market Association's Green Loan Principles.