The European Commission is using up to €1.5 billion from the EU Emissions Trading System revenues to support a new Battery Booster Facility. Providing direct support in the form of interest-free loans, the Booster will help battery cell manufacturers to increase production in Europe.
With a maximum loan of €500 million, the eligible projects must produce battery technology suitable for use in electric vehicles, and production must be located in the European Economic Area with a minimum production capacity of 10GWh. A call for proposals will be launched during the third quarter of this year, and applications will be evaluated based on their technical and financial maturity, and their added value for the European Economy. The first payments from the Battery Booster Facility are expected to be made before the end of 2026.
The Commission explains that loans has been selected over traditional grants to “encourage sound capital management, drive companies towards commercial viability faster and complement private sector investments.” It hopes the Battery Booster Facility will catalyse private investment, accelerate industrial deployment and strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy in clean technologies.
“Europe’s battery industry has made important steps forward but is now at a critical juncture. This is the right time to support them to reach commercial success,” said Wopke Hoekstra, commissioner for climate, net zero and clean growth. “The Battery Booster Facility does exactly that: it steps in at the most critical and capital-intensive phase of industrial scale-up and does so in a way that is financially sound. It attracts private investment and drive companies towards full-scale production.”
The Commission added that the Battery Booster Facility builds on other recent initiatives to support the EU’s battery sector. These include the €1 billion call for proposals for electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing. In addition, the Commission and European Investment Bank presented a €200 million top-up from the Innovation Fund to the InvestEU guarantee to support investment in European battery manufacturing.
Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy added: “This is about resilience, competitiveness and sovereignty - building a European battery value chain from raw materials to recycling, reducing strategic dependencies, and securing the future of Europe’s automotive industry.”
Further reading:
- New centre looks at AI manufacturing for batteries
- Growth in batteries is strong - but global supply chains must diversify to mitigate risk says IEA
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