Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Commission and the European Investment Bank unlocked a new partnership to boost investments in the European battery manufacturing value chain.
On 3 Dec 2024, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a new partnership to support investments in the EU’s battery manufacturing sector. According to the press of the EU Commission, this collaboration will witness a €200 million top-up (loan guarantee) to the InvestEU programme from the EU Innovation Fund.
As a component of the new partnership, the EIB envisages supporting a further €1.8 billion in the wider battery value chain. These joint actions will result in €3 billion of public support in total for the outcome of a competitive and sustainable European battery industry.
How will the EU’s battery sector benefit from new funds?
EU Commission stated that the €200 million InvestEU guarantee top-up by the Innovation Fund will be mandated to support innovative schemes along the European battery manufacturing value chain to manage financing challenges by allowing additional EIB venture debt functions over the next three years. In particular, the venture debt operations will assist companies in bridging the hole between the research and development stage and large-scale commercial deployment; facilitate market losses; leverage public grants to mobilise private investment; and contribute to the building of innovative and resilient supply chains for energy storage in Europe.
As reported, the support will be directed to a broad range of battery technologies, such as designing advanced materials, parts manufacturing, or innovative recycling methods.
How does the EIB aim to enhance battery production capacity?
Moreover, the EIB funds the wider battery value chain, including raw materials, research, production, charging infrastructure, and recycling. Over the past six years, the Bank has delivered €6 billion of financing and seeks to invest a further €1.8 billion. The Innovation Fund’s €1 billion Battery call and the €200 million InvestEU guarantee top-up comes in reaction to the request made on 6 December 2023 by the prior Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič to support the EU’s battery manufacturing industry by giving up to €3 billion in support to the sector. This initiative seeks to incentivise investment and drive the European battery industry cleaner and more competitive.
