Europe is sinking billions of dollars into research in an attempt to overturn Asia’s dominance of the battery market, but analysts believe it could be in vain.
Along with various national initiatives, the European Union has put half a billion euros ($550 million) into battery projects within its Horizon 2020 global competitiveness program, which had a total budget of €80 billion ($88 billion) from 2014 to 2020.
And last December the European Commission approved €3.2 billion of state funding under its “important project of common European interest” (IPCEI) rules. The investment will support battery research and innovation across Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden.
The project is scheduled to run until 2031 and is expected to unlock a further €5 billion in private investment. French oil firm Total and German automaker Opel will receive €1.3 billion of public funding on IPCEI terms for a major manufacturing program. It could see as much as 48 gigawatt-hours of capacity added across sites in France and Germany.
“Battery production in Europe is of strategic interest for our economy and society because of its potential in terms of clean mobility and energy, job creation, sustainability and competitiveness,” Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, said in a statement.
Given the array of various support programs, “it is difficult to calculate the exact amount of funds currently invested” across Europe, said Doriana Forleo, communications and events manager at the European Association for Storage of Energy. But Bloomberg last July reported that total battery supply-chain investments from European governments, manufacturers, development banks and commercial lenders could top €100 billion.
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