Why is research on batteries important?

Batteries have a central role to play in the European transition to Circular Economy and the Digitalization of the society. High-performance electrochemical energy storage can reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector, stabilise the power grid, and support a broad range of strategic industries, including medical device production, information and communication technologies, aerospace and advanced robotics. In nearly all aspects of modern life, batteries enable innovation.

Batteries cannot be produced however without raw materials. It is estimated that while a limited percentage of the needed materials can be obtained by recycling, the rest of the demand needs to be mined and refined. EU invests in innovating technologies for the sustainable extraction and refining of raw materials, via projects such as CICERO.

What does the EU do on batteries innovation?

The European Battery Alliance, launched by the European Commission in 2017, aims to establish a competitive battery industry in Europe. The Strategic Action Plan on Batteries, published by the European Commission in May 2018, calls for preparing an ambitious, large-scale and long-term research programme on batteries. In 2024 the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) entered into force in the European Union to ensure a diverse and sustainable supply of critical raw materials for the EU’s industry, including the battery value chain. Accordingly, BATTERY 2030+ proposes a 10-year large-scale visionary research programme on future battery technologies.

What is BATTERY 2030+?

BATTERY 2030+ is a large-scale research initiative launched in 2020 and funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe R&D framework, as a coordination and support action (CSA). The initiative gathers leading scientists in Europe, as well as the industry across the full value chain.

Why is CICERO a partner of BATTERY 2030+ ?

Raw materials and recycling are among the research areas of the BATTERY 2030+ initiative, as the extraction and refining of key raw materials is a core initial step of the battery value chain.

It is for this reason that BATTERY 2030+ has under its umbrella a handful of EU-funded projects innovating in this area. CICERO is one of these projects, as it targets the domestic refining of three strategic battery- related critical raw materials, i.e., Ni, Co and Mn. CICERO also addresses one of the CRMA benchmark’s: i.e., > 40% domestic processing/ refining.

For more information on BATTERY 2030+ and CICERO’s activities in the initiative please visit – > www.battery2030.eu