The EU-backed European Battery Alliance (EBA) has launched an updated action plan to enable 90% of its market demand to be met by battery products from EU member states by 2030.
The European Battery Alliance (EBA) was established in 2017 to address future industrial challenges. By 2021, the European Battery Alliance (EBA) has invested 127 billion euros ($138.7 billion) to develop and build the battery manufacturing value chain in Europe.
However, the European Battery Alliance (EBA) said after a high-level industry meeting before the end of March that it would take until 2030 for the EU to create a self-sufficient battery industry, which would require additional investment of 382 billion euros during that period.
Once the battery manufacturing value chain is established, the market opportunity for the European battery industry will reach approximately EUR 250 billion per year by 2025.
There are more than 750 industrial and innovation groups among the industrial workflow members of the consortium, which goes by the name EBA250. The EU is developing and building more than 180 industrial projects, including 47 battery projects.
Existing support mechanisms include battery projects worth over 20 billion euros with Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) status, and research projects committed to nearly 1 billion euros in the Horizon Europe European research programme by 2027.
As in the United States, battery technology has been identified as an important part of Europe's energy future, especially as the electric vehicle (EV) and battery energy storage systems industries have been booming in Europe for some time now.
The importance of this is reinforced by recent events such as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on supply chains, driving up transportation and import costs for battery materials and finished products, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and ongoing energy price spikes.
US President Biden's latest strategic move in this regard is to call for the National Defense Act to build support for the development of US domestic value chains.
Updated Action Plan
The European Battery Alliance, led by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and coordinated by the EU's innovation accelerator programme EIT InnoEnergy, has identified issues and gaps that still must be addressed.
While there is no doubt that significant progress has been made, gaps in the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry, as well as in workforce skills, need to be filled to create what the EBA250 calls a “resilient end-to-end battery industry”. Upstream, this means addressing issues around raw material extraction and processing, refining and battery-grade materials; downstream, around end-of-life battery recycling and manufacturing scrap and reintroducing recycled materials into the value chain.
At a recent industry conference, participants agreed that one of the immediate priorities for action is the swift passage of the EU Battery Regulation Act, which will gradually introduce carbon footprint labelling and recycling of batteries manufactured and sold in the EU. content requirements, etc.
The regulation is currently at the stage of negotiations with various EU member states to determine how it will be implemented in different parts of the EU market. The European Battery Alliance (EBA) has said that sustainability could be an important aspect for European battery producers to improve their competitiveness.
Members of the European Battery Alliance (EBA) believe the regulation, which includes a "battery passport" that allows tracking of equipment and materials, should have strict rules. On a related note, the European Flow Battery Industry Association stated that battery technologies such as flow batteries are currently excluded from the "battery passport" and therefore advocates their inclusion.
The European Battery Alliance (EBA) said legislation should also be passed to put batteries at the heart of the EU's decarbonisation plan, which includes the decarbonisation of electric vehicles and the adoption of renewable energy, along with measures to support and reduce battery raw materials and processing Material Ventures.
The new target set in the European Battery Strategic Action Plan last published in 2018 was to be extended to 2025, and this updated plan will extend to 2030.
The ambition and goal of the new scheme is to achieve 100% recycling coverage, with 40% of active materials used in EU manufacturing sourced within its member states and 90% of battery manufacturing from Europe. The value created is expected to skyrocket from €250 billion in 2025 to €625 billion in 2030. The European goal is to be able to meet the 1TWh battery demand for electric vehicles, energy storage systems (ESS) and other industries.
