New Batteries Europe Technical Secretariat, “one-stop shop” for battery research

CIC energiGUNE is participating in the creation of the new Batteries Europe Technical Secretariat, which aims to become the European “one-stop shop” for battery research

The Basque centre will support the drafting of the main technical documents of Batteries Europe in the framework of the BEST project (Batteries Europe Secretariat), whose funding has been included in the Horizon Europe call and in which it participates together with 11 partners and 4 affiliated entities under the leadership of Innoenergy

The aim of the project is to enrich, strengthen and expand the key role of Batteries Europe by bringing together academic, industrial and research expertise within a new Secretariat that consolidates the battery R&D community and helps to achieve its objectives

CIC energiGUNE, a leading Basque research centre in energy storage specialising in batteries, thermal energy solutions and hydrogen technologies, and a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance-BRTA, is part of the new Technical Secretariat of Batteries Europe, the EU-driven initiative to shape the European battery ecosystem, where it will coordinate the drafting and publication of key technical documents, among other tasks. The work of the Basque centre is part of the BEST project, which brings together 15 leading organisations under the leadership of Innoenergy.
“CIC energiGUNE will play a crucial role in strengthening the European battery ecosystem through this project,” said Montse Casas-Cabanas, Scientific Coordinator of the Electrochemical Storage Area at CIC energiGUNE. “Moreover, we believe that this Technical Secretariat is a necessary and decisive step in the EU’s bid to secure a leading position in the tough global competition for the battery of the future,” she said.
BEST is also one of the projects approved by the European Commission within the Horizon Europe programme in which CIC energiGUNE participates. In fact, the Basque centre has obtained an unprecedented success rate in this call for proposals by obtaining approval for the 9 projects in which it is taking part, all of which are linked to the development of high-performance batteries.
In this context, the BEST consortium will involve representatives of the entire value chain in its working groups, including areas such as emerging technologies and advanced materials, and will include agents from the entire battery ecosystem: industry, academia, strategic policy makers, researchers and even the public. BEST will contribute to synergies, consolidate the workflow between initiatives, facilitate free and inclusive access to information, and strengthen collaboration between industry and research to drive technological developments that reduce the time to market for new solutions.
This work, to be carried out in cooperation with BEPA (Batteries Europe Partnership Association), will also strengthen the attraction of European talent and provide evidence-based guidelines to inform the decisions of energy policy makers. The Secretariat will also gather expertise to develop a strategic R&D agenda and design updated roadmaps to promote battery education.
The BEST (Batteries Europe Secretariat) project is led by InnoEnergy with the participation of CIC energiGUNE, VDI-VDE-IT, EASE, EERA, CLERENS, SINTEF (Industry and Energy), INSTM, ENEA and Zabala. Batteries Europe aims to accelerate and support the establishment of a globally competitive European battery industry and to strengthen synergies and complementarities between EU initiatives.