The European Investment Bank (EIB) will be lending 100 million euros to the Dutch public water supply company PWN, the financial institution announced last week. The money will support the climate adaptation strategy of PWN and will safeguard the water supply in the North Holland province of the Netherlands.
Climate-resilient water supply requires timely action
EIB, also known as EU’s climate bank, and PWN, which manages the drinking water supply in the most part of Noord-Holland, have signed a 20-year agreement for a loan amounting to 100 million euros. The money is meant to support the investments needed to secure the high quality of drinking water from the source to the tap, which includes the anticipation of climate change effects, such as frequent and prolonged droughts.
In particular, the EIB loan will help the company to implement more climate-friendly ways to filter drinking water which goes through the substitution of part of its distribution network with more heat- and drought-resistant pipes, as well as measures, to better manage supply among different water sources and storage areas. This should contribute to the company’s goal to produce CO2-neutral drinking water by 2050.
Thus, over the next few years, the water supplier will be rehabilitating and upgrading production installations, replacing pipes, water storage facilities, reservoirs, pumping stations and undertaking sustainable management of coastal dunes. This should ensure constant availability of clean and affordable drinking water for around 1.7 million residents living in the region, located north-west of Amsterdam.
“The EIB has been supporting drinking water production companies in The Netherlands for quite some time now,” commented EIB Vice-President Christian Thomsen on the occasion of the announcement. “People in the country are becoming more and more aware of the risks The Netherlands are running in the face of climate change. Apart from changing our ways when it comes to emissions, we need to adapt to the changing situation as well, and the EIB is very glad to support PWN in doing that”, he also added.
Source: TheMayor.EU
