€2.9 billion to the European battery ecosystem

12 member states – Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden – will join forces to support research and innovation in this strategic value chain. The project, called the “European Battery Innovation” project, will cover the whole batteries ecosystem from extraction of raw materials, design and manufacturing of battery cells and packs, and finally the recycling and disposal in a circular economy, a press release from the EU Commission reads. According to the Commission, the public support will unlock an additional EUR 9 billion of private investments. This brings the total investments in the project to almost EUR 12 billion. So, the industry's investments more than triple the size of the public money. This decision follows the Commission's approval in December 2019 of a first batteries project, with seven member sates participating. That project is currently being implemented. This time, Germany took the lead in coordinating an even larger group of member states and industry players to deliver this new project – which is expected to lead to new technological breakthroughs and innovations in the battery value chain.