European Commission Vice-President for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič confirmed at the second high-level meeting of the European Battery Alliance in Brussels on Monday 12 February that an EU action plan, containing 20 priority initiatives, to drive forward the development of batteries would be unveiled at the European Industry Day on 23 February.
The second meeting of the European Battery Alliance, which was set up in October 2017 and brings together the countries of the EU and the sector to establish a complete value chain for batteries in Europe (see EUROPE 11881), assessed progress made since the autumn.
Šefčovič highlighted the need to exploit the “immense potential” of the European battery market, forecast to be worth €250 billion from 2025 as the demand for battery cells is likely to rise to 200 gigiwatts/hour (GWh) in the EU and 600 GWh worldwide. “We must achieve a capacity of over 100GW by 2025, the date by which there will be a great increase in the manufacture of electric cars in Europe”, he stated.
Those attending the meeting, among whom were representatives from 15 member states, including Germany, France, Poland and Sweden, “noted that, while we have the skills in Europe, we still have a fragmented approach on research, innovation and production. We must work together, pool our efforts in Europe because the scale and the speed required make it clear that no player can do it alone”, he said.
“The battery sector is the driving force, with over 80 industrial and innovation actors throughout the value chain involved in preparing concrete actions. We are also seeing the first consortium projects developing”, he said.
The meeting, in which the European Investment Bank (EIB) also took part, provided the opportunity, too, to consider financing needs and possibilities for the creation of large-scale battery cell production capacities in Europe, including industry-initiated cross-border projects, and ways to combine support instruments at the EU and national levels, Šefčovič indicated.
Lastly, the participants discussed the issue of the social impact of these efforts to establish a sound, sustainable production base for batteries, he stated.
German Secretary of State for the Economy Matthias Machnig underlined the need for cross-border consortia of companies, public funding and EU support for priority projects of common interest.
Swedish Secretary of State for Business Niklas Johansson highlighted the role of the battery industry in efforts to tackle climate change, emphasising that Sweden was aiming for 70% of transport to be low carbon. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)