Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič announces new cooperation with EIT InnoEnergy to facilitate access to EU public finance for battery startups

EBA250 continues to boost growth of the European battery industry

On 2 December 2023, at the occasion of COP28 in Dubai, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič announces a new cooperation with EIT InnoEnergy to facilitate access to EU public finance for battery startups. Within the framework of the European Battery Alliance (EBA250) coordinated by Executive Vice-President Šefčovič, EIT InnoEnergy will lead a new pilot initiative to provide a one-stop shop service for guidance to SMEs in the battery industry to access to EU finance.

Public finance plays a crucial role in driving private investment decisions and unlocking private capital, as public financing instruments can provide the necessary guarantees to mobilize private investment.

To maximise the financing potential for the green transition and de-risk decarbonisation investments, particularly for rapidly growing sectors like batteries, Europe needs greater speed and simplicity in access to its public funds. This is especially important for frontrunners in the transition, which are often newcomers and innovative SMEs.

Set-up to address this challenge, the introduction of a one-stop shop service for guidance for SMEs in the battery industry will have three main objectives:

• Facilitate SME applications for EU funds: EIT InnoEnergy will provide guidance to selected companies in navigating EU funding programs and financial instruments, reducing the time and resource spent on applications. Doing more with less in bidding processes will benefit small companies that need it the most and speed up the time-to-money process to scale operations faster.
• Strengthen industrial value chains: While the European battery value chain has made significant progress in recent year, further efforts are required to continue its development and expand segments of the value chain, particularly in upstream activities such as raw and active materials, as well as recycling for end-of-life products. The service aims to allow EU finance to address current financing gaps within the value chain.
• Aid efficient deployment of EU funds: Enhancing Europe’s competitiveness through increasing industrial manufacturing capacity and ensuring supply chain resilience are priority objectives for the EU. The service aims to ensure recognition of the most promising greenfield projects that support these objectives.

Starting early next year, EBA250 will pilot the initiative for startups across the full value chain, from raw materials extraction to recycling, also including equipment, and machinery.

Based on learnings and best practices from the pilot, the goal is to later expand the service to additional clean tech value chains such as hydrogen and solar to further strengthen Europe’s industrial capacity to manufacture climate technologies.