As part of the Horizon 2020 program, the European Commission is funding the LiPLANET project over the next two years to establish the lithium battery cell research pilot line network. The eight consortium partners are laying the foundation for a Europe-wide network of research pilot lines, which focuses on research and development in the manufacturing of advanced lithium-based battery cells. Within the funded two project years, the structures for a sustainable network will be established and the network will be implemented and started.

The network aims at strengthening the position of the European Union within the strategic and fast-growing market of lithium battery cells. Besides pilot line operators, relevant industrial and policy stakeholders are specifically involved in the design of the network. Within the LiPLANET network, the cooperation between industrial and academic partners will be strengthened in order to identify knowledge and equipment gaps and to set standards. By organizing joint trainings and workshops, the existing gap between materials research and development and the industrial production of battery cells will be closed, thus enabling efficient and safe scale-up. Accordingly, various activities will be carried out within the project:

- Mapping of the European Lithium-based battery cell research pilot lines
- Implementation of the network in a sustainable, non-profit business model
- Creation of a legal framework and development of an exchange platform for knowledge and data as a basis for cooperation between industry, science and research pilot lines
- Development of standards for the qualification of research pilot lines
- Development of a roadmap to define a strategy for the network focusing on upscaling and sustainability and to support the competitiveness of large-scale industrial production of battery cells in Europe

Project Data

The European Commission promotes this project in the context of the Horizon 2020 program with two million euros over a timespan from 01.01.2020 until 31.12.2022.

The core consortium of the project consists of the partners:

- Technische Universität Braunschweig
- EIT InnoEnergy
- EMIRI
- AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
- CEA Liten
- CIDETEC Energy Storage
- ABEE – Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering
- VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik