Searching for ways to finance rail infrastructures has always been a critical issue for infrastructure managers, and the market currently offers new possibilities that Adif AV, the Spanish IM in charge of the High Speed lines, has explored. Adif AV is one of the European rail infrastructure managers to have established a green financing framework in order to issue green bonds that will ensure a cleaner, more sustainable mobility for our citizens. In total, 3 bn € over the last 4 years, after our last emission, last October, our fifth so far. 

These titles of credit provide funds that are used both to finance and refinance projects that generate environmental and climate benefits. They are aligned with the Green Bond Principles (GBP) issued by the ICMA (International Capital Market Association), therefore guaranteeing the compliance with a set of guidelines on transparency, publicity and reporting.

Adif AV, following its commitment to protect the environment and seek global sustainability, has become the first Spanish state public entity to launch green bonds. In 2019 it was recognized as one of the ten best valued issuers in the world out of a total of 10,026 companies analyzed by the specialized entity Sustainalytics. 

Adif AV has issued green bonds on five occasions since 2017, adding up to 3 bn €.  These funds have financed the construction of new high-speed lines, the extension of existing ones, as well as energy efficiency projects, estimating 556,820 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved a year and 16,704,605 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved over thirty years.

An example of a project financed with Green Bonds and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is the Zamora-Pedralba de la Pradería section, belonging to the Madrid-Galicia HS Line. The new connection extends the Spanish high-speed network by 110 km, which now amount to 3,567 km, and represents the continuation of the Madrid-Olmedo-Zamora high-speed line, in service since 2015, to the northwest of the country. 

As seen on the enclosed video, many more projects are still to come, thanks to this financing model that railways are now taking advantage of. Thanks to the green bonds funds, the positive effect on the environment will continue to increase as significant amounts of traffic from road and air transport shift to railways. 

Watch the video to learn more : https://vimeo.com/264219048