(Alliance News) - The European Investment Bank and Terna Spa - on the sidelines of the second edition of the EIB Forum in Luxembourg - signed the contract for the last tranche of the EUR1.9 billion loan for the Tyrrhenian Link, the undersea electricity link that will connect the Italian peninsula to Sicily and the latter to Sardinia.

The Forum also included a meeting between Gelsomina Vigliotti, EIB vice president, and Giuseppina Di Foggia, managing director and general manager of Terna, to discuss future collaborations to support the energy transition and REPowerEU goals.

Connecting Sicily with Sardinia and the Italian peninsula through a double submarine cable 970 kilometers long and 1,000 MW in capacity, Tyrrhenian Link will help foster the development of renewable energy sources, grid reliability and promote energy security in Italy.

"For this infrastructure, which is crucial for the security of the Italian electricity system, Terna plans a total investment of about EUR3.7 billion, about 50 percent of which will be financed by the EIB, demonstrating the strategic nature of the project. The Tyrrhenian Link will be fully operational in its entirety in 2028, and 250 companies will be involved in its construction, with important spin-offs for the territories involved," the released note reads.

The loan in question, like the previous tranches of EIB financing dedicated to the Tyrrhenian Link, has a duration of about 22 years from the first date of disbursement and is characterized by a longer duration and more competitive costs than those of the market, thus falling within Terna's policy of optimizing its financial structure.

With this new transaction, the total outstanding loans between Terna and the EIB rise to about EUR3.8 billion.

Terna on Thursday trades in the red by 0.2 percent at EUR7.49 per share

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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