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Brussels, 15 April 2025  The final Plenary Session of Batteries Europe, held on the 10th of April at the Thon Hotel in Brussels, brought together up to 300 important players from around the European battery ecosystem to reflect on accomplishments and talk about future directions in energy storage and battery research. The event was held both online and at the Thon Hotel EU in Brussels. This was the final plenary session for Batteries Europe, as the project will be ending this month. SAFT representative and Batteries Europe Chair Michael Lippert launched the event with remarks that set the tone for a day of debate centred on innovation, European cooperation, and developing battery technology

The European Commission’s Beatrice Coda gave a summary of the clean energy transition’s advancements. She emphasised Batteries Europe’s efforts, including the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and the publishing of its Research & Innovation Roadmap, as well as its cooperation with the Batt4EU partnership, some of the key highlights of Batteries Europe’s work. Later on, Monika Curto Fuentes presented a comparative study of national battery ecosystems in China, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada, Australia, India, Indonesia, and the EU. She described recent advancements in battery Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), research priorities, important policy goals, and national initiatives.

Perspectives on how foreign battery sectors are adjusting to changing rules and worldwide problems were then provided by Terrie Romano (National Research Council Canada) and Andreas Bareid (NAATBatt foreign, QAD Inc., USA), while by Dr. Stefan Wolf of VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH offered an overview of China’s battery innovation system. Dr Wolf also highlighted advances and structural shifts in the nation’s battery sector

Additionally, the following people contributed to the session:

• Kenya Shatani (EBA250, InnoEnergy), who addressed the importance of collaboration and investment to strengthen Europe’s battery value chain.
• Ilka von Dalwigk (RECHARGE), who underlined the alignment of policy with industry needs, with an emphasis on sustainability, circularity, and strategic autonomy.

The release of the revised Batteries Europe Roadmap, which outlined Europe’s course for battery research and development, was also a major highlight. Priority areas on the roadmap include:

• Emerging battery technologies
• Raw materials and recycling
• Advanced materials
• Cell design and manufacturing
• Applications in mobile and stationary storage
• Social sciences and humanities contributions

Speakers contributing to this roadmap were Edel Sheridan (SINTEF), Montse Casas Cabanas (CIC energiGUNE), Eliana Quartarone (INSTM), Francis Kinyanjui (SINTEF), Christoph Grzeschik (VDI/VDE-IT), Margherita Moreno, Annalisa Aurora (ENEA), and Adam Cooper (UCL).

The second part of the discussions then moved on to a panel session on R&I Challenges in the Battery Value Chain, moderated by Wouter IJzermans (BEPA), it featured expert contributions from: Daria Giovanacci (Geyser Batteries), Sonja Nurmi (Aalto University), Silvia Bodoardo (Politecnico di Torino), Oscar Miguel Crespo (CIDETEC), Dr. Franz Geyer (BMW Group) and Christian Noce (ENEL).

In this discussion, there was a recognised need to build new capabilities beyond optimising existing operations, with a focus on planning for future changes and maintaining flexibility. The talk also mentioned significant effort was put into making Europe a more appealing environment for startup growth. Furthermore, the significance of social acceptance in mining and processing was recognised, emphasising the need for additional research and assistance in this area.

Finally, there was a brief session on Batteries Europe KPIs and Report Methodologies by Margherita Moreno of ENEA, and Daniel Carriazo of CICEnergiGUNE.

The session concluded with final remarks from Alessandro Romanello, Coordinator of Batteries Europe, who presented a summary of the project’s results. Wouter IJzermans outlined the path forward for the Working Groups and Task Forces, and closing the event, Michael Lippert thanked the secretariat and all contributors, acknowledging the strong foundations laid for future collaboration and innovation.