The first tranche of an approved €42 million loan for energy efficiency projects in Bucharest, Romania has been signed off.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is initially lending €22.47 million to finance the second phase of the city’s refurbishment programme for multi-family housing.

The project is expected to cut the heating energy consumption of around 140 buildings by 50% – or 74GWh per year.

The EIB said: “In order to support this priority energy efficiency project in Bucharest, the EU bank’s contribution has been raised to 75% of the project’s cost, in line with guidelines for investments aimed at reducing energy consumption and mitigating climate change.”