European Investment Bank Supports Paraguay Green Hydrogen Fertiliser Project with USD 95 Million Financing
(IN BRIEF) The European Investment Bank, through EIB Global, has announced up to USD 95 million in financing for the Villeta Green Hydrogen Fertiliser Plant being developed by ATOME PLC in Paraguay. The facility will produce approximately 260,000 tonnes of low-carbon calcium ammonium nitrate fertiliser annually using green hydrogen generated from Paraguay’s renewable electricity system. The project is part of the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative and aims to strengthen cooperation between Europe and Latin America while supporting sustainable industrial development across the Mercosur region. Located near the Paraná–Paraguay waterway and close to major agricultural markets in Brazil and Argentina, the plant is expected to become a competitive regional fertiliser supplier while reducing emissions associated with traditional fertiliser production. Financing will be provided through a project-finance structure involving international partners including IFC, IDB Invest, FMO and the Green Climate Fund, and the plant will operate under a long-term renewable electricity agreement with Paraguay’s national utility ANDE. The development is expected to create more than 5,000 jobs and support both regional food security and the global transition toward low-carbon industrial production.
(PRESS RELEASE) LUXEMBOURG, 14-Mar-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — European Investment Bank, through its development arm EIB Global, has announced up to USD 95 million in financing to support the development of the Villeta Green H₂ Fertiliser Plant, a major industrial project led by ATOME PLC in Paraguay.
The facility will manufacture low-carbon nitrogen fertilisers using green hydrogen generated from Paraguay’s fully renewable electricity system. Once operational, the plant is expected to produce around 260,000 tonnes of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) annually, positioning it among the first large-scale fertiliser plants powered by green hydrogen outside the European Union and potentially the largest of its kind at the start of operations.
The project forms part of the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy, strengthening cooperation between Europe and Latin America while supporting the broader EU–Mercosur agenda. The initiative aims to promote sustainable industrial development in a region that is currently the world’s largest importer of fertilisers.
Strategically located near Paraguay’s Paraná–Paraguay waterway, the Villeta plant will be close to major agricultural markets in Brazil and Argentina. This location is expected to enable efficient logistics and establish the facility as a highly competitive supplier of fertilisers across the Mercosur region.
A key feature of the project is its use of green hydrogen instead of hydrogen derived from fossil fuels. By using renewable electricity to produce hydrogen, the facility aims to significantly reduce emissions associated with fertiliser manufacturing, one of the agricultural sector’s most carbon-intensive processes. The project is therefore expected to contribute to both climate goals and improved resilience in regional fertiliser supply.
The investment will also generate economic benefits locally. During both construction and operation, the Villeta facility is expected to create more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing to economic diversification and industrial development in Paraguay.
Financing for the project will be structured under a non-recourse project finance model and will involve collaboration with several international financial institutions. Partners include International Finance Corporation, IDB Invest, FMO, and the Green Climate Fund.
The plant will operate under a long-term electricity supply agreement with Paraguay’s national utility, Administración Nacional de Electricidad, ensuring stable access to renewable power for hydrogen production.
Ioannis Tsakiris stated that supporting the Villeta project highlights the EIB’s commitment to advancing clean industrial technologies globally while fostering sustainable economic development in emerging markets. The initiative also reflects the bank’s broader objective of accelerating the global transition to low-carbon energy systems.
Olivier Mussat said the financing demonstrates strong international support for the project and underscores the commercial viability of green fertiliser production. According to Mussat, the plant represents a major step toward fertiliser manufacturing that is independent of fossil fuels, strengthening agricultural supply chains while contributing to global food security.
Katja Afheldt highlighted that the investment reflects the European Union’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with Paraguay while promoting sustainable economic growth. The project is expected to position Paraguay as a regional leader in green hydrogen development and clean industrial technologies.
Background information
The EIB Group
The European Investment Bank (ElB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion of new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects in eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investment union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructures, the EIB Group crowds-in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium size businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilizes private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.
In 2023, the EIF together with six member states (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands) launched the European Tech Champions Initiative, a fund of funds to scale-up innovative startups. As of February 2026, this initiative has already enabled the creation of 13 European venture capital mega-funds and scaled up 38 companies, including 11 unicorns (with more than €1 billion in capital). Photos of the EIB Group’s spokespeople and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here.
ATOME PLC
ATOME PLC is an AIM-listed company and a leading developer of dedicated low-carbon fertiliser projects with a material pipeline of projects across South and Central America ATOME’s flagship Villeta Project is located in Paraguay – the heart of the Mercosur region’s agricultural and food production markets – and aims to disrupt the region’s heavy dependence on imported fossil fuel-based fertiliser, contributing to regional food security goals and supplying the agricultural sector with efficient and sustainable products. ATOME has now created its ATOME POWER division which is in the early stages of developing a significant renewable power generation and battery infrastructure business.
Global Gateway
Global Gateway is the EU’s strategy to promote smart, clean, and secure connections in the digital, energy, and transport sectors, while strengthening health, education, and research systems worldwide. It’s the EU contribution to narrowing the global investment gap accompanying the social and just green and digital transitions beyond European borders and boosting competitiveness and security of global supply chains.
Global Gateway is a way to connect Europe and partners across the globe, based on trust, sustainability and mutual interest. It provides investments for transformative, large-scale projects, while offering a respectful and qualitative and horizontal/equal partnership to our partner countries in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.
Global Gateway aims y to mobilize up to €300 billion in investments worldwide by pooling the resources of Team Europe, which brings together the EU, its Member States, financial and development institutions, and European businesses. All Global Gateway projects are designed together with our partners on how best they can benefit from our investment offer to ensure that the results improve their necessary infrastructure and connectivity.
Global Gateway fully respects and promotes international standards of labour protection and respect for human rights, as well as good governance and transparency, which makes the overall approach unique and consolidate a distinctive engagement with partner countries.
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