Sweden. Municipality of Gävle
| Date of agreement: | 01 Dec 2011 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Sweden |
| Customer: | Municipality of Gävle |
| Amount in SEK: | SEK 500 million |
| Amount in EUR: | EUR 54.8 million |
| Maturity: | 10 years |
| NACE sector / loan type: | Water transport |
Project
The loan has been provided to the Municipality of Gävle for the financing of infrastructure projects in the Port of Gävle.
The Port of Gävle is in a phase of expansion and is investing in new quays, larger port areas, a new entrance fairway and improved rail connections. The expansion project will increase the port’s transport capacity by 40%, and is of importance for enhancing the competitiveness of the region and the whole country.
The Municipality of Gävle in east central Sweden has a population of about 95,000. The Port of Gävle, fully owned by the Municipality of Gävle, is one of Sweden’s largest import and export terminals with regular services to European ports.
Fulfilment of NIB's mandate
The project is in line with NIB’s competitiveness and environmental mandate. The Port of Gävle is an important logistics centre for traffic by sea, rail and road. The goal is to promote regional growth and development while also maintaining tight security and protecting the local environment. A well developed infrastructure is of importance for the competitiveness of companies in the region and for the whole country.
Sustainability summary
This is a project with a potentially extensive environmental and/or social impact (category A, read more)
The sediments in the inner harbour area are heavily affected by former industrial activities. The on-going ship movements in the area re-suspend the polluted sediments and thus add to the environmental impact of the port operation. With the construction of the expanded port area, polluted sediments will be dredged and safely solidified and deposited as fill material in the quays. This will also lead to less impact from re-suspended polluted sediments after the expansion of the port. The primary purpose of dredging is to improve the safety of the fairway and thereby lower the risk of accidents.
An environmental impact study will form part of the planned filing with the environmental authorities for an environmental permit. The environmental permit for the expansion of the fairway and the improved railway connection will be a condition precedent for disbursement. The Port of Gävle does not have an environmental management system. Some of the individual operators within the port area have environmental management systems for their respective operations. The Port of Gävle has plans to certify its operations in accordance with ISO 14001.
