Over 200 participants attend the Batteries Europe Launch Event in Brussels

BatteRIes Europe is aimed at fostering research, innovation and knowledge sharing across  the entire span of the European battery value chain, engaging a broad range of stakeholders from industry, research and associations along with European and National regulatory and funding authorities. It function is  to be the driver of the R&I ecosystem by ….linking battery research initiatives and stakeholders networks to create synergies  for batteriesin Europe,  building a competitive value chain able to sustain Europe’s ambitions in the field. Batteries Europe will gravitate around six Working Groups and a National and Regional Coordination Group, led by a Secretariat consisting of partner institutions and the Commission.

Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič delivered a keynote speech at the event, describing the relevance of BatteRIes Europe to the achievement of the European decarbonisation goals and stressed the supporting role of the European Commission: “I am pleased to say that industry has picked up this challenge with investments and projects announced – and launched – throughout the whole value chain. […] I can assure you Commission services will be in support. Their involvement in BatteRIes Europe will ensure possibility to learn about different funding possibilities throughout the innovation cycle. […] the institutions will continue to advance work on the conditions, the incentives and the enabling framework to ensure transition to a climate-neutral EU”.

The launch event on 25^th June gathered over 200 battery stakeholders from all over Europe, in addition to national and regional representatives from Member States and EU institutions. Attendees were welcomed with an opening statement by Haitze Siemers from DG Energy and a presentation of the Platform by the Secretariat, and later on heard a presentation by Thore Sekkenes of the European Battery Alliance on “Market previsions for the battery value chain in Europe” which pointed out the synergies between BatteRIes Europe and the European Battery Alliance. Industry representatives then held presentations on the R&I needs in the next few years, followed by a lively discussion with the audience.

In the afternoon, Chairs of each Working Groups gave a broad overview of their topic of competence; participants then gathered in roundtables divided by Working Groups of expertise, in order to initiate and set in motion an action plan for the next 6 and 12 months.

Their work will continue in the next years, supported by the National and Regional Coordination Groups as well as the Secretariat and the EU Commission, and will play an very significant role on the contribution of batteries to the decarbonisation of the EU energy system.

As with the coordination support provided to the European Technology and Innovation Platform for Smart Networks in Energy Transition, ZABALA is very proud to support the new BatteRIes Europe platform and help mobilize resources to implement R&I activities in the energy storage field.

Click here to see the full speach of Vice-President of the Commission Maroš Šefčovič