The Batteries Europe platform was officially set up on 25 June in Brussels. Batteries Europe is the initiative promoted by the European Commission to promote innovation and research in the field of batteries. The platform brings together the main continental stakeholders involved in the research and development of batteries and will focus on proposing technological R&D guidelines in the field of batteries in order to ensure European competitiveness in a key aspect for the industry and the economy of the future. Batteries Europe stands as the one-stop-shop for the European ecosystem related to battery research and innovation, bringing together technological agents and industry with a view to identifying and prioritising the main needs along the entire value chain.

Óscar Miguel, Director of CIDETEC Energy Storage, will lead the work of the Basque technology centre as coordinator of the working group “Manufacturing & Cell Design”, which, thanks to its characteristics, stands as a crucial axis of the European strategy. In the opinion of Dr. Miguel, “the design and manufacture of batteries is the core element within a chain that goes from raw materials and development of new technologies to the integration of the resulting batteries in key applications in electromobility, stationary applications, and recycling at the end of its service life. The fact that we are assigned the coordination of the working group that will address this key task confirms the relevance of the role that CIDETEC within the European policies in this area and reinforces the positioning of Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country, in line with the strategies designed by our institutions, as a leading European region in terms of developing new technologies and applications for energy storage”.

It should be noted that CIDETEC Energy Storage is present in other initiatives aligned with Batteries Europe, such as BATTERY 2030+, a long-term research initiative, and the European Battery Alliance, which focuses on industrial initiatives.

The European Commission is launching the Batteries Europe initiative in an attempt to boost innovation and research in the field of batteries, with the clear goal of preventing Europe from falling behind at a time when Asian manufacturers are already considering the implementation of factories in the continent to meet the growing demand caused by the booming electric vehicle market. Batteries Europe, alongside the European Battery Alliance (EBA), established in 2017, proposes the creation of a sustainable value chain in Europe with the capacity to compete for a market that is estimated to reach the milestone of €250 billion per year by 2025, equivalent to the GDP of a country like Denmark. Thus, it aims to prevent the dependence of the European industry and exploit the opportunities for employment, growth and potential investment of batteries.

“If Europe does not want to limit itself to being a mere consumer of batteries, if we wish to lead and take advantage of a market with immense growth potential, we need to unite the capabilities and efforts of the main members of the research, development and innovation ecosystem in the continent to offer the industry a solid foundation of wealth creation. For a Basque technology centre such as CIDETEC, being one of the leaders of an initiative of this calibre is a challenge and an opportunity of the highest level”, concluded Óscar Miguel.