Almost twelve billion euros are to flow into the development of new batteries, including to Austrian companies.
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The EU Commission approved billions in aid for the expansion of European battery production on Tuesday. Twelve member states can now provide up to 2.9 billion euros in funding.
More than three times the amount, nine billion euros, should come together through additional private investments. In Austria there should be 45 million euros for projects by AVL, Borealis, Miba, Nextrom, Varta Micro Innovation and Voltlabor.
European battery research
The project known as “European Battery Innovation” was prepared and registered jointly by Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia and Spain, announced the EU Commission.
Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic emphasized that the pan-European project, thanks to its focus on next-generation batteries, will help “revolutionize the battery market”. “By 2025, our actions within the framework of the European Battery Alliance will lead to an industry that is strong enough to equip at least six million electric cars a year.”
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager described the initiative as an example of the interaction between competition policy and innovation. “It enables groundbreaking innovations and at the same time ensures that private investments are mobilized with limited public funds, while at the same time keeping competitive distortions as low as possible.” Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton expressed the hope that the project would give European industry a competitive advantage and “create much-needed jobs”.
Gewessler sees “contribution to climate protection”
Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) said she was pleased about the approval of the aid by the EU Commission. “Austria can make a very significant contribution to climate protection in Austria and the European Union and at the same time strengthen the research and development location,” she said in a broadcast.
The projects funded by the Climate Protection Ministry “are about to start and will run for between four and eight years,” it said. The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) are now working quickly on the national implementation of the six individual projects. AVL is working on quality improvement in module and pack production, Borealis on high-quality polyolefin solutions for battery components, Miba on components for thermal management, Rosendahl Nextrom on production and process solutions for battery assembly, Varta Micro Innovation on energy storage systems and Voltlabor on safe and reliable total batteries based on the round cell.
