Creating an EU Framework for the development of a sustainable battery value chain in support of cleaner mobility and more efficient energy storage

#SDGAction42741

Description

Intro

In October 2017, Vice President Šefčovič launched the European Battery Alliance with Member States and industry to create an innovative battery value chain in Europe with the development of sustainable battery cells at its core. The Alliance is led by the Commission, which has underpinned its activities by identifying a range of legal, policy and, with the European Investment Bank, financial instruments that can be used to support and kick-start these projects. These measures were brought together in the Strategic Action Plan for Batteries adopted by the Commission in May 2018 following extensive consultation with Member States and key stakeholders.

Objective of the practice

It is a core objective of the European Commission to support its Member States to make the European Union a world leader in innovation, digitisation and decarbonisation. Batteries are a key enabling technology for both cleaner e-mobility and energy storage. 
The Battery Alliance is part of the Commission’s new Industrial Policy Strategy which actively supports EU industry efforts to continuously adapt and innovate by helping investment in new technologies and embracing changes brought on by digitisation, the transition to a low-carbon and more circular economy. This part of the effort to implement the Paris Climate Agreement. A key element of this new strategy is to place greater emphasis on to the transition to low emission mobility. These measures include strengthened post-2020/2021 CO2 standards for cars, vans and heavy duty vehicles and an Action Plan to accelerate and ensure widespread deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure. 
For EU industry to remain competitive in this field over the long-term it is necessary to fill gaps and missing links in relevant value chains. This is why the Commission views investment in batteries development and manufacturing is of strategic importance. The Battery Alliance is a Flagship initiative to support industry-led projects for research, development and manufacturing of the next generation of battery cells and battery packs in the EU. 
The Alliance not only aims to support high quality battery manufacturing in the EU but also has a particular focus on sustainability and recyclability. These measures include developing a legislative proposal to set the performance and sustainability criteria that batteries will have to comply with to be placed on the EU market. This is due to be adopted by the Commission in the summer of 2019. The Commission is also evaluating the existing EU Batteries Directive which will address a number of issues including the; collection of waste batteries, recycling levels achieved within the EU and labelling. 
This has been a challenging exercise as the European automotive sector has had to adjust to making the transition to new technologies away from the internal combustion technologies in which many manufacturers are global leaders. The industry is embracing this change with heavy investment into the new technologies and the introduction of new electric models but this is a major capital-intensive exercise which industry cannot do on its own. 
The Strategic Action Plan for Batteries sets out a range of measures to support battery cell and pack manufacturing and all aspects of the battery value chain including; access to raw materials, R&D second use and recycling. It serves as a ‘Roadmap’ to ensure that the objectives of the Alliance are supported to the fullest extent by existing and planned EU policies and instruments.

Partners

Stakeholders: companies providing raw materials, components for the battery cells (e.g. cathodes, anodes & electrolytes), battery cells, battery packs, battery management systems, car manufacturers designing and producing electric cars, second-users of batteries and recyclers. Many stakeholders and Member States were involved in the development of the Action Plan. The Commission has also worked closely with the European Investment Bank to ensure their support, where appropriate, with emerging battery-related projects.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

The Battery Alliance has provided direct support and encouragement to industries to invest in battery-related projects. There are many examples, including:
• work has begun to build a demonstration line for battery cell production in a project led by Northvolt in Sweden (with a €52.5 million loan from the European Investment Bank).
• The SAFT, battery manufacturer, announced in February 2018 a consortium with Solvay, Umicore, Manz and others to develop and manufacture battery cells – starting with advanced Li-ion technology followed by Li-ion solid state.
• BMW Group, Northvolt and Umicore have also formed a joint technology consortium, in October 2018, in order to work closely together on the continued development of a complete and sustainable value chain for battery cells for electrified vehicles in Europe.
In addition, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), InnoEnergy, which is financed by the Commission supports the work of the Alliance, has managed to mobilise and steer a network of around 260 innovation and industrial actors, coming from all segments of the batteries value chain. These actors have committed to investing into actions and projects that they have collectively identified as top priorities, ranging from cells manufacturing, second-life batteries, ecolabel, carbon footprint reduction in manufacturing, a clearing house for batteries recycling, vehicle-to-grid, and enhanced cooperation between universities and companies to set up relevant education and training programmes.
The Alliance, together with the Commission’s active involvement, has helped to provide a supportive framework for these projects to emerge.
The Alliance has also encouraged Member States to develop their own initiatives. Recently France and Germany announced a Joint Declaration on Battery Cell Production in which both countries committed to make substantial funding available for battery projects (including €1 billion from Germany). Both countries identified the Commission’s Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) instrument as a potential basis for establishing a cross-border battery-related project(s).
In addition, the interregional partnership on batteries has quickly become a success with expansion from an initial 9 to 22 in just a few months. These regions are committed to work together to develop collaborative projects on research, technical development and innovation.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

The implementation of the objectives of the Battery Alliance, underpinned by the Strategic Action Plan, has been a priority for the European Commission. The different work strands have been launched with each one being taken forward by the relevant parts of the European Commission with a mechanism in place to ensure overall coherent implementation.
In parallel, the Commission has continued its interaction with the stakeholders including a high-level meeting with Member States and CEOs on 18th October 2018 supported by a series of meetings organised by InnoEnergy on topics such as skills and financing. There was also a meeting with European regions interested in developing an Inter-regional partnership on batteries on 8th October.
These meetings serve to ensure that the implementation of the Action Plan is being taken forward in a way that allows Member States, regions, industry and EU institutions to work together in the most effective way to ensure the development of a genuinely sustainable battery value chain in Europe. Progress is constantly being reviewed.

Enabling factors and constraints

The main enabling conditions for the achievements of the Alliance have been in three main areas: a new regulatory framework; national/regional co-operation and financial support.
The Commission is currently preparing a proposal for an Eco-design Regulation which, once agreed, set out the minimum performance and sustainability criteria for batteries to be placed on the EU market (discussed further in the next section). This has already been the subject of much discussion and a large stakeholder workshop held on 20 December 2018. It is already helping to set the basis for discussion on what Europe wants in terms of sustainability for its batteries.
The Alliance has also been instrumental in promoting national co-operation in support of cross-border projects such as the Franco / German Declaration on Battery Cell Production. The Commission’s recently established Inter-regional Partnership on Batteries has been a catalyst for regional co-operation with membership of 22 regions underpinned by a new Smart Specialisation Platform for Advance Battery Materials provided by the Commission to help co-ordinate their action.
In the area of finance, the Commission has held a number of meeting with companies to identify potential suitable financing tools for their projects. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a €52.5 million loan to Northvolt and, in a workshop organised by InnoEnergy on 29 January, the Commission and EIB have presented potential financing options to a wide range of industry stakeholders.

Sustainability and replicability

The key mechanism to ensure sustainability of measures is the development of a proposal for a new Eco-design Regulation to set the performance and sustainability criteria that batteries will have to comply with to be placed on the EU market. This is due to be adopted by the European Commission in summer 2019 before discussions with the European Parliament and Member States (in the Council of Ministers). This will establish design and use requirements for batteries that must take account of the need to ensure sustainable development by increasing energy efficiency and the level of protection of the environment, taking into account the whole life cycle cost. These design and use requirements will then be the basis for the development of European Harmonised Standards, which will allow industry to show conformity with the requirements.
Overall, this new legislation will provide a level playing field for industry in the development of batteries and set minimum levels of sustainability.
This work will be supplemented by a review of the existing EU Batteries Directive to assess the existing current collection and recycling targets for batteries including the recovery of materials. This will also include an analysis on how to best promote the second-use of advanced batteries and the use of bi-directional batteries.

Conclusions

The Commission’s Battery Alliance represents an innovative approach to combining industrial and environmental policies to create the framework to encourage the development of high quality, safe and sustainable batteries to support the ongoing revolution in e-mobility. 
While the implementation work is ongoing, it is clear that there has already been a significant impact with substantial financial support to the development of a demonstration line for battery cell production in Sweden. There has been the commitment of France and Germany to seek the development of a cross-border battery consortium in line with the objectives of the Plan and highlighting the possibility of using EU instruments to support this. Finally, the plan has provided the basis to bring 22 regions together to identify common projects that they can support using, primarily, EU structural funds.

Other sources of information

EU Battery Alliance Website: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/policy/european-battery-alliance_en
EU Strategic Action Plan for Batteries: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:0e8b694e-59b5-11e8-a…
Smart Specialisation Platform for Advance Battery Materials: http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/batteries

SDGS & Targets