High-level EBA250 meeting in Poland during impact’19 conference

As the battery production is of strategic importance for Europe, a high-level EBA250 meeting was organised in Krakòw, Poland on May 21^st to discuss the opportunity for Poland and the Central and Eastern Europe region at large.

More than 40 high-level representatives from private and public sectors actively participated in the meeting co-organised by InnoEnergy, the Polish Investment Fund and impact took place at the occasion of impact’19 conference.

The conference was opened by InnoEnergy Central Europe CEO Jakub Miler who set the objective for the day and invited Mrs. Jadwiga Emilewicz, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology to frame the Polish perspective on development of battery technologies.

“We are sure that there is a place for Polish companies on the battery production value chain, though we can execute it only with coordinated, joint efforts. Regional companies are able to cover the needs of the market – we plan to become the hub of battery production.”

Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz made a comment on the identified needs of companies and which parts of the value chain require special attention: “Project needs and demands is not only access to financing – regulation also needs to be adjusted. Furthermore I believe that recycling of old batteries is something we need to focus on to secure future production”.

The meeting was closed with a constructive and engaged discussion moderated by Diego Pavia, InnoEnergy CEO. During the debate the standpoints of the industry were discussed. The need of new, less restrictive regulation, the importance of skill development and the significance of developing the ecosystem for e-mobility were some of the topics considered.

This meeting took place in the frame of recent EBA250 initiative aiming at engaging Member States and industry to cooperate at a national level. Similar meetings took place recently in Sweden or France for instance, others are planned in Norway or Spain in the coming weeks.