A new milestone for battery production has been met after the European Commission and BEPA signed the Memorandum of Understanding that officially launches BATT4EU, the co-programmed partnership under Horizon Europe for the development of a competitive and sustainable European industrial battery value chain.
The demand for batteries is continuously growing, however, the production of batteries is still highly concentrated in Asia: for instance, less than 1% of global lithium-ion battery cells are currently manufactured in Europe, compared to over 90% in Asia.
Europe needs to catch up in this important area and it will do so by putting environmental sustainability and circularity at the heart of its battery production in order to address the ambitions of the green energy transition.
By mobilizing €925m, the partnership will boost research and innovation to develop a variety of differentiated technologies that will result in a competitive, sustainable and circular European battery value chain.
BATT4EU is a public-private partnership that aims to develop a world-class European research and innovation ecosystem on batteries for both stationary and mobile applications. This initiative is mainly motivated by the fact that only a long-lasting and coordinated effort involving industry, research and the public sector can live up to the challenge and bring predictability to the European battery stakeholders.
Michael Lippert, chair of BEPA, commented “With more than 165 members, BEPA shows that in Europe there is a great interest as well as know-how for the development of a competitive battery value chain. Thanks to BATT4EU, the European battery community will work hands in hands to prepare Europe to manufacture and commercialize by 2030 the next-generation battery technologies that will enable the rollout of the zero-emission mobility and renewable energy storage, thus directly contributing to the success of the European Green Deal.
Rosalinde van der Vlies, director Clean Planet for DG RTD adds: “The partnerships with industry that are being supported in Horizon Europe are ambitious, impact-driven initiatives that respond to EU policy priorities. The BATT4EU partnership contributes directly to the goals of the European Green Deal by enabling widespread adoption of e-mobility and stationary electrical energy storage. It will also create economic growth and jobs in a circular economy by developing an innovative, competitive and sustainable battery manufacturing industry in Europe. I particularly look forward to the synergies BATT4EU will create with other partnerships to ensure maximum impact, and wish for our common success with BEPA”
As the EU aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, batteries have a key role in the clean energy transition by helping to decarbonize transport and enable a higher integration of renewable energy sources in its electricity mix.
