EIB to provide additional funds for Emscher river rehabilitation project

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an additional loan contract with Emschergenossenschaft to provide a €450m loan for the restructuring of the Emscher river system in Germany.

The rehabilitation project includes a 51km-long, 40m-deep wastewater canal from Dortmund-Deusen to Dinslaken. The Emscher river flows via the centre of the Ruhr area in Germany.

Mining has had a decisive economic influence on the region, but not without significant repercussions on the landscape. The Emscher and its tributaries have been used for about 100 years as an open sewage system, as the construction of an underground sewage system was ruled out due to ongoing coal mining activities.

Coal mining ceased in the region in the 1980s and the new underground Emscher wastewater mains are expected to be installed by 2017.

The loan follows an initial financing operation that was provided by the bank in 2011 for the project. Both loans are for a period of 45 years, and have a fixed interest rate despite the long maturity.

EIB president Werner Hoyer said that the Emscher rehabilitation project sets an example for the whole world.

"It clearly demonstrates for all to see how a region marked by industry over many decades can be transformed into a pleasant, nature-oriented landscape," Hoyer added.

Emschergenossenschaft management board chairman Jochen Stemplewski said: "Our Emscher rehabilitation project, with an overall cost of €4.5bn, involving 350km of waterways, is the largest European project to restore a complete river landscape and a driver of structural change."