Europe makes progress on battery cell production: Opening of European Networking Conference on Batteries

Today, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is opening the European Conference on Batteries, an event taking place within the framework of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

From 24 to 27 November 2020, stakeholders from industry, research and policy-making will come together online to discuss developments in the field of batteries and to push ahead with cross-border cooperation. The focus of the event is on the two Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) in the field of batteries. More than 60 companies from across Europe are working together in these two projects to promote innovation and to create new value chains.

The conference will also be joined by Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French delegate Minister of industry, and Stefano Patuanelli, the Italian Minister of Economic Development. The conference can be followed via a live stream.

Federal Minister Peter Altmaier said:

We want to create an integrated value chain for battery cells in Europe - ranging from the processing of raw materials to battery cell production and recycling. Therefore, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is providing funding worth nearly three billion euros to the German projects involved in the two IPCEIs on batteries. In future, Europe is to produce the most innovative and environmentally friendly battery cells, giving rise to tens of thousands of jobs along the value chain. The battery projects can thus become a blueprint for other industrial projects in Europe, for example in the field of hydrogen.

Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič said:

With over 500 industrial actors, the European Battery Alliance has become a resounding success in just three years. It has turned Europe into a global battery hotspot, showing that we can achieve strategic autonomy in this key industrial sector. This is thanks to true collaboration requiring the full commitment of all involved, including the Member States. Germany, France and Italy continue to be at the forefront of these efforts. The Commission’s focus now is on putting forward a new future-proof regulation on batteries as well as finalising the second ambitious IPCEI. A competitive, innovative and sustainable European battery value chain will also help future-proof our automotive sector, while spearheading the overall recovery.

Minister Stefano Patuanelli said

Today we have more clearly developed a shared vision of a battery value chain to be efficient, circular, responsible and that can significantly contribute to catalysing the necessary evolution of production paradigms addressing the issues of sustainable decarbonisation. Thanks also to the forward- looking action of the current German Presidency, we are concretely advancing towards the implementation of a new and more appropriate industrial vision. Through Next Generation, IPCEI and national tools, Italy is ready to support the projects necessary to translate the green and digital transition into reality.

Delegate Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said:

The European Battery Alliance embodies what Europe can do when it is pragmatic, united and ambitious. Such initiative shows how European Member States come together to reinforce the EU’s strategic and technological autonomy and build a more sustainable and climate- friendly industry. We have started from a Franco-German initiative three years ago, and we are now about to adopt on a second IPCEI with more than ten countries to create a competitive battery cell sector. We should now expand our industrial cooperation to other strategic sectors for EU’s future, such as hydrogen, cloud or AI.

Info

The first IPCEI on batteries, involving seven EU Member States and seventeen participating European companies, has already been approved under state aid rules. The second IPCEI on batteries, which comprises twelve participating Member States and roughly 50 companies, is currently being reviewed by the European Commission in terms of state aid rules.

The European Conference on Batteries places a special focus on the topics of sustainability, skills development and innovation. A series of panel discussions and specialist forums will provide the opportunity for in-depth discussions and an exchange of experience with European experts from across the field of sustainably produced lithium-ion batteries.