The project also includes actions in certain buildings and facilities and the incorporation of technologies for the smart management of public services, with the aim of optimising the city’s energy bill.
This is a highly complex operation that began with Gijón City Council joining the eeef’s Technical Assistance Programme to reduce its energy consumption and improve the efficiency of its emissions. The project has become one of the most important in terms of energy efficiency in the municipal sphere in Spain as it involves the renovation of more than 42,000 lighting points in the streets and public buildings of the municipality. With this action, it is estimated that Asturian city will see a 68% reduction in electricity consumption in public lighting and municipal buildings and a 30% reduction in carbon emissions.
The financing of the project carried out in Gijón is the third investment made by the European fund in Spain, after the one granted for the renovation of public lighting in the city of Santander and for the renovation project of the thermal installations of the Polytechnic University of Madrid. On all three occasions, DLA Piper has provided legal advice to eeef on the negotiation and structuring of the financing granted to the three public entities.
The DLA Piper team advising on the financing was led by César Herrero, partner and head of the Financing, Projects, and Restructuring department, together with Rocío Smith, Legal director of the same area.
According to César Herrero, this transaction “has been quite a challenge, not only because of its complexity and depth but also because of the importance of a Spanish city becoming a benchmark in clean energy and energy savings. We are very proud to have advised eeef on this project and on the fund’s previous financings in Spain.”
