Boels Rental has borrowed €100 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support its decarbonisation strategy, with funds to be used to buy electric equipment.
The new machines will be located at Boels’ branches in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg, among others.
Boels said the investment would help it reduce “downstream” or Scope 3 carbon emissions produced by its customers when using rented equipment.
The loan follows a similar deals in 2022 with Loxam (€130m), GAM (€35m) and Collé Rental and Sales (€50m).
Boels CEO, Pierre Boels, said; “This EIB loan is a recognition for our leading position in Europe and the efforts of our sustainable fleet strategy. Our continuous investments in sustainable fleet were already significant in the last years and will further expand, supported by this EIB loan.
“This results in one of the largest sustainable equipment fleet in Europa, which enables our customers to accelerate their journey to decarbonisation”.
EIB vice president, Kris Peeters, said Boels was serious about its decarbonisation strategy, “and as the EU climate bank, we are here to support that.
“Electrification of machinery is and will remain an important part of Europe’s quest to lower our collective carbon footprint. We hope that more companies will follow Boels’ example.”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by member states. It makes long-term finance available for investments that contribute towards EU policy goals. The Netherlands owns a 5,2% share of the EIB.