The Commission Vice-President for the Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, will launch today in Brussels the BatteRIes Europe Platform. It is a research and innovation platform, gathering public and private stakeholders along the whole value chain of battery production. It becomes the research and innovation ”leg” of the European Battery Alliance.
As highlighted in the Strategic Action Plan for Batteries, research in this area needs to be coordinated, from raw materials till recycling aspects. Integration of stationary batteries, Integration of e-mobility, including vehicle to grid services, as well as integration of stationary batteries are also very important . For the Commission, batteries have a key role to play in the automotive sector and will also provide flexibility to the grid, through the newly adopted Electricity Market Design Directive.
BatteRIes Europe will be a forum for setting strategic research and innovation agenda throughout the whole value chain and an important cooperation platform on batteries research and innovation. It will not be a funding instrument but will bring together different funding schemes, such as Horizon 2020 and its successor Horizon Europe, Regional-ERDF funding, and Member States-funded Projects of Common European Interest. It thus becomes an important linking structure in batteries research and innovation landscape and ensures one-stop access to all involved Commission structures and beyond.
In parallel, a new matchmaking platform bringing together battery projects promoters and investors will also soon be inaugurated under the auspices of the European Battery Alliance. There will be a strong link between the two platforms: sufficiently ripe innovative ideas coming from members of BatteRIes Europe technology and innovation platform will be able to find easier access to the market through the matchmaking platform.