Mission to Portugal; meetings related to the European Battery Alliance
Ref. Ares(2022)4709993 - 28/06/2022
Lisbon, 18 May 2021
Speakings for the roundtable with the industrial actors
1. Introductory remarks by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič (3’)
Thank InnoEnergy for the introduction and the invitation to this roundtable.
Express your appreciation and support for the
hard work and commitment of
the industrial actors towards
establishing a
battery value chain in Portugal,
and integrating it more closely into the European battery ecosystem.
Inform that the
Battery Alliance has seen significant progress since 2017.
The Alliance – which brings together over
600 members – has already yielded
concrete results across the entire battery value chain, including ca. 70
industrial battery projects announced across Europe, almost 30 announced
battery cell factories (of which 14 are to be giga-factories) sufficient to largely
satisfy the growing domestic demand for batteries – being driven by e-mobility -
by 2025, record-high level of investment (€ 60 billion in 2019) outpacing even
China (the EU as a “battery hotspot”), steep increase in sales of eVs in Europe
reaching over 1 million cars in 2020 (10.5% market share; the trend has
continued into 2021 reaching 14.9% in Q1).
Portugal is set to play a key role in the strategic battery industry in the longer
term, as a country with
enormous potential and the
right ingredients to build
a sustainable globally competitive and
vertically-integrated battery value
chain.
The Portuguese battery industry – once fully established – would be
key to
addressing the
remaining challenges of the European ecosystem (as
identified at the Batteries Ministerial of 12 March), for example by:
o developing a resilient raw materials segment, including sustainable
primary
raw materials extraction – lithium in particular – but also
refining facilities
– as well as
recycling, which is critical for a secure supply of secondary
raw materials,
o producing more
sustainable battery cells thanks to the abundance of
clean energy and proximity of OEMs,
o providing the
skilled workforce needed across the entire battery value
chain, and
o carrying out top-notch
research and innovation in Portugal’s institutes and
research facilities, such as the International Nanotechnology Laboratory
“INL” in Braga.
Express your
great interest in common ambitions paper / Portuguese
Industrial Battery Strategy and
hearing what the CEOs have to say, notably
on (i) their specific commitments, (ii) important investment opportunities, (iii) the
challenges they face, and (iv) expected support measures from the government
and the Commission.
Mission to Portugal; meetings related to the European Battery Alliance
Lisbon, 18 May 2021
2. Remarks by Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič following the presentation (3’)
Thank for the impressive
common ambitions paper /
Portuguese industrial
battery strategy, and stimulating and informative interventions.
Inform that, as a follow-up to this dialogue, you would be ready
to discuss it
with the Ministers as well as the need for more
systemic government support for industrial efforts, including:
o preparation of a
national strategy on the battery value chain (industrial
actors, supported by the INL institute and Innoenergy, should take the lead
on this process),
o inclusion of the most promising
recovery battery/raw materials projects
in the
Recovery and Resilience Plan (if the draft of 22 March is still to be
amended), the
Territorial Just Transition Plans, and
cohesion policy
operational programmes,
o fostering
re-/up-skilling programmes for the batteries/raw materials
emerging ecosystems, for example by engaging with
InnoEnergy/EBA250
Academy, and
o electrification of the
urban transport sector, including by investments for
fast
charging infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles, trucks and busses.
Stress the necessity of overcoming the important challenge of
social
acceptance. Industry must
adhere to the highest European and
international standards and any activities related to raw materials – from
exploration to post-mine closure – must be done in a
socially and
environmentally sustainable way, also by
engaging with local communities openly and transparently.
Invite the industrial actors to join a dedicated “
Roundtable on sustainable
raw materials for the green and digital transition” to be held before the
summer [
date TBD]. The meeting will serve as an opportunity to listen to and
address the concerns of a broad spectrum of stakeholders, with an interest in
sustainable raw materials extraction and processing in Europe in terms of
social, environmental and economic performance. The Roundtable will also be
an opportunity to present the recent work of the
Raw Materials Supply Group on ‘EU principles for sustainable raw materials’.