AIB’s Climate Capital segment recently passed a significant milestone when it surpassed €5 billion in lending for financing large scale energy and infrastructure projects which are central to the transition to a lower carbon economy.
The transactions are for projects located across the key markets of Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America through partnerships with leading renewables companies like ESB, NTR and Power Capital. They span transformational on-shore and off-shore wind as well as solar programmes. In addition, AIB continues to support critical enabling infrastructure such as large-scale battery projects and interconnectors, which underpin our energy security.
“In many cases, AIB has acted as lead arranger with other global partner banks, bringing learnings from our international experience to bear on key domestic transactions, and demonstrating the bank’s and Ireland’s growing reputation in sustainable finance,” says AIB Climate Capital managing director Paul Travers.
AIB Climate Capital was established in 2024 by merging two existing AIB businesses with the aim of deploying significant funding towards renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure projects across Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America. However, its strength and depth have been in the making since 2017 when the bank first took a centre of excellence approach to climate capital by actively recruiting senior experts spanning investment banking, infrastructure, and international banks, as well as engineers, renewables developers and key consultancy firms.
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The multidisciplined team has now grown to more than 100 staff and has been a key contributor to the success of AIB’s broader €30 billion Climate Action Fund. Since 2019, this fund has actively supported customers with €19.1 billion of green and transition finance, including €2.5 billion in the first six months of 2025 – 36 per cent of all new lending by the bank.
“We have grown a highly specialised climate capital team that is demonstrating that AIB, and Ireland, is emerging as a leader in not just mobilising but utilising sustainable finance,” says Travers. “This has not happened overnight. It has been eight years in the making, built through strategic planning and constructing a centre of excellence approach to supporting our customers.
“Greening our loan book is a key strategic priority for AIB,” he continues. “Our Climate Capital segment is driving the transition to a more sustainable and resilient future by making the large-scale renewable projects developed by our customers, that we all rely on, a financed reality. We’re excited to continue to grow and build on our strong and valued partnerships with leading renewables companies like ESB, NTR and Power Capital. We are hugely thankful to all our customers for helping us achieve this milestone by choosing and trusting AIB as their financial partner. We are also grateful to our legal, technical and other advisers in supporting us through these important transactions.”
Recent transactions
Inch Cape
Jointly owned by ESB and Red Rock Renewables, Inch Cape Offshore Windfarm is a 1,080 Megawatt (MW) offshore windfarm consisting of 72 wind turbines and associated infrastructure located 15km off the UK coast. Overall funding for the project is £3.5 billion (€4 billion) and AIB is providing about £110 million of senior financing as part of a group of 22 commercial banks. This is AIB’s 16th offshore windfarm financing to date.
NTR
Established in 1978, NTR is an experienced sustainable infrastructure investor and asset manager driving Europe’s clean energy transition. The company recently completed a €109 million financing deal to support the refinancing of 38.25MW of operational onshore wind assets located in Ireland and France in addition to funding the construction of a further 34.5MW of onshore wind generation in France. AIB is providing funding alongside an international partner bank. The diversified portfolio of high-quality assets will contribute strongly to ongoing decarbonisation efforts across Europe.
AIB has a long-standing relationship with NTR, notably entering into a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) in 2022 to source energy from two of NTR’s solar farms in Co Wexford. The green electricity delivered under the an is sufficient to provide up to 80 per cent of AIB Group’s electricity needs across its retail and office network.
Power Capital Renewable Energy
Power Capital Renewable Energy is a leading Irish independent power producer with a development pipeline of over 5 Gigawatt (GW) of assets. In January of this year, the company reached an agreement for facilities to fund the construction and operation of a portfolio of seven solar farms located across Ireland with an aggregate capacity of 290MW. The solar farms are located in Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Meath, Wexford, Wicklow and Roscommon. AIB is one of three banks providing funding of around €220 million to finance the construction and operation of this solar portfolio. This is the third transaction AIB has completed with Power Capital.
For more information, visit aib.ie/corporate/industry-expertise/climate-capital
