𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 brings together innovators, industry leaders and investors from across Europe’s clean energy sector

Under the theme “𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞”, this year’s edition will explore how clean energy innovation can build Europe’s industrial strength, a mission at the heart of the European battery ecosystem. 🔋⚡

Don’t miss the chance to connect with startups, corporates and investors shaping the future of energy in Europe.

Access the full agenda and get your ticket here: The Business Booster 2026 | Europe’s Top Cleantech Event – Munich

 

The Horizon Europe projects of the BATT4EU Partnership, the public-private partnership between the European Commission and the Batteries European Partnership Association (BEPA), are delivering concrete results across the battery value chain. With the BATT4EU Success Stories webinar series, BEPA gives project coordinators the opportunity to present what their projects have achieved.

This edition focused on the battery system level. The three projects work on packs that are lighter, safer, better monitored and easier to recycle, for applications ranging from electric vehicles and heavy-duty transport to aviation, rail and stationary storage.

TEMPEST

The TEMPEST project develops safe-by-design, lightweight and recyclable battery systems with all-composite housings. Rather than a single solution, TEMPEST built a toolbox of validated, chemistry-agnostic technologies for both Li-ion and semi-solid-state cells. These were applied to three demonstrators targeting small mobility, M1/N1 vehicles and stationary storage.

The project met its –15% weight target on all three demonstrators, with reductions of 50-80% on the smaller demonstrator and around 17% on the largest one. A heat-pipe thermal management system with cold-sprayed conductive coatings reached around 96% of the efficiency of full liquid immersion cooling. An ultrasonic guided-wave structural health monitoring system detects cracks in the housing in about 2.5 seconds, well below the 10-second target, and a spin-off company has been launched to commercialise it.

On safety, an intumescent coating provided up to 15 minutes of thermal barrier protection, helping to prevent fire propagation between vehicles or storage packs. Self-extinguishing internal coatings release CO₂ in case of thermal runaway, while BMS-controlled heating paints, around 75% more efficient than resistive heating, keep cells at the right temperature in cold conditions. For circularity, a debonding-on-command adhesive allows housings to be separated by hand at end of life, and a hydrogen-based recycling route recovers clean metals without acid leaching and turns graphite into value-added carbon products such as carbon nanotubes.

NEXTBAT

The NEXTBAT project develops next-generation battery systems for transport electrification, combining novel pack designs with simulation, AI and battery passport software. The project collected requirements for 10 use cases across road, non-road mobile machinery, waterborne, airborne and rail applications.

NEXTBAT is building two 48 V prototype modules. The high-energy Prototype 1 uses semi-solid-state cells of 350 Wh/kg, as no all-solid-state cells were commercially available, and reaches 5.4 kWh and 262 Wh/kg at module level (without pack casing and auxiliaries). The high-power Prototype 2 combines 75 Ah NMC cells with oil immersion cooling, cell-level impedance diagnostics, active balancing and a laser-welded hybrid aluminium-polymer housing.

With its virtual design tool, the project scaled Prototype 1 up to 800 V battery systems for a heavy-duty truck (735 kWh), a construction machine (956 kWh) and a hybrid regional aircraft (221 kWh). In a hybrid passenger ferry case, immersion cooling limited the cell temperature swing to 3 °C instead of 8 °C with a cold plate, allowing a smaller pack with 18% lower mass. The project also developed degradation-aware AI models to keep the BMS accurate over the battery lifetime, as well as battery passport algorithms with a cloud solution for fleet data.

NEXTBAT is ongoing: validation and abuse testing of the prototypes, a dismantling demonstration and a roadmap towards certification of next-generation battery systems will follow.

EXTENDED

The EXTENDED project develops an adaptable, modular battery pack based on semi-solid-state NMC cells. Its approach is to integrate mechanics, sensing, battery management, thermal control, safety and circularity into one modular platform, designed against requirements from automotive, stationary storage, heavy-duty and aeronautics applications.

The project built three module prototypes with three BMS variants, each with 24 cells. The virtual demonstrator reaches an estimated 173 Wh/kg, with up to 50% weight reduction compared with the defined reference. To bring diagnostics closer to each cell, EXTENDED combined optical infrared daisy-chain communication, single-cell impedance diagnostics integrated in the BMS electronics and printed temperature and pressure sensor arrays, reducing wiring while providing richer cell-level data.

On thermal management and safety, the project achieved a 22% weight saving on the battery thermal management system, a temperature difference below 5 °C in normal operation and no thermal propagation when vented gases are evacuated. Module-level testing, dismantling evidence and the life cycle assessment are being finalised before the project ends on 31 October 2026.

Together, TEMPEST, NEXTBAT and EXTENDED show how European research is moving battery innovation from the cell to the complete system. Lighter composite housings, smarter cell-level monitoring, more efficient thermal management and design for disassembly are making battery packs safer, lighter and more sustainable, across transport and stationary applications. The projects were also open about what remains to be done, from long-term ageing data to industrial scale-up, which is valuable input for the next generation of European battery projects.

These results show the value of a dedicated partnership covering the full battery value chain. With its Battery R&I Blueprint, BEPA calls for continued and strengthened support for battery research and innovation under the next EU Framework Programme, building on the results of BATT4EU.

To meet the battery community and hear more about the latest developments, join us at the Battery Innovation Days on 11–12 November 2026 in Stockholm.

Brussels, 22 October 2026 — RECHARGE and BEPA today convened industry leaders, policymakers and stakeholders in Brussels for the plenary session “A Battery Deal for Europe: One Year of Implementation and Strategic Impact”, taking stock of progress made since the launch of the Battery Deal for Europe and discussing the actions needed to strengthen Europe’s battery value chain. Since the launch of A Battery Deal for Europe, more then 350 signatories confirmed their support for its implementation.

Bringing together representatives from the European Commission, industry, research organisations and civil society, the event reviewed developments across the four pillars of the Battery Deal: Innovate, Produce, Buy and Secure, and assessed how recent EU industrial, innovation, trade and sustainability policies are contributing to Europe’s battery ambitions.

“One year ago, we presented a common vision for Europe’s battery future. Today, the objective remains unchanged: Europe must translate ambition into implementation,” said Ilka von Dalwigk, Director General of RECHARGE. “Important steps have been taken, but global competition continues to intensify. Europe now needs faster execution, stronger investment signals and measures that reinforce the competitiveness of the entire battery value chain. The recent Franco-German agreement on the Automotive Package sends the wrong signal at this fragile moment. We call on policy-makers to create the right investment and demand signals through creating lead markets for European made batteries and battery components.”

“Europe has the expertise, industrial capabilities and innovative capacity required to build a world-leading battery ecosystem,” said Fabrice Stassin, Secretary General of BEPA. “The challenge is ensuring that policy instruments deliver at the necessary speed and scale. Continued cooperation between industry, EU institutions and Member States will be essential.”

Discussions during the event focused on industrial scale-up, innovation funding, demand creation, circularity and the resilience of raw material supply chains. Participants agreed that batteries remain a strategic technology at the heart of Europe’s competitiveness, digital and energy transitions as well as industrial sovereignty.

As Europe enters a critical phase for battery investments, RECHARGE and BEPA reiterated their commitment to working with policymakers and stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of the Battery Deal for Europe and secure a competitive, sustainable and resilient battery ecosystem in Europe.

 

Join the Plenary Session marking one year since the launch of A Battery Deal for Europe, co-organised by RECHARGE and BEPA.

Launched in 2025, the joint campaign sets out concrete, actionable and coordinated solutions to rebuild a robust, future-ready European battery value chain.

Europe’s battery industry is at a pivotal moment. Global competition, cost pressures, supply-chain constraints and the need for predictable demand signals continue to weigh on the sector. The Plenary will take stock of the progress achieved so far and set out the constructive steps needed to strengthen Europe’s battery industry in the year ahead.

Programme highlights

See the full agenda here.

Seats are limited, so register by 19 October 2026.

👉 Register here!

The Faraday Institution, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and BEPA are holding a networking meeting to explore areas of research and innovation where there are opportunities for closer collaboration between the UK and the EU, with a particular focus on battery recycling and supply chain.

13 October 2026 | 14:00–17:00 | Rue Ducale 17, Brussels 

Are you UK- or EU-based and active in the recycling and supply chain sector (academia or industry)? Interested in attending and want to find out more? Get in touch to register 👉 opportunities@faraday.ac.uk

What to expect:

Join BEPA’s upcoming Battery Startups Lunch and discover five companies and the technologies they are developing across the battery value chain!

📅 21 October 2026 | 🕐 12:00–13:00 CEST | 💻 Webinar

Agenda

Register here!

As announced in the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the Competitiveness Compass for the EU, the European Commission presented its European Innovation Act on 9 September 2026 as a flagship measure to help Europe’s most innovative ideas be developed, financed and scaled up within the EU rather than elsewhere.

Presented by Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Act aims to create an innovation-friendly environment that lets companies grow across borders, with measures including a single rulebook for R&D procurement (quality must count for at least 50% and innovation at least 15% of the award) and steps to unlock an estimated €10.2 billion a year in intellectual property-backed finance.

The proposed Act focuses on creating a more coordinated regulatory, policy and investment framework aimed at removing barriers and bringing innovative solutions to the market across the EU. In particular, the Commission seeks to improve the functioning of the Single Market for innovation by tackling the underuse of public procurement to commission research, development and testing, and the uncertainty around intellectual property valuation that constrains access to finance.

The Act will address issues related to the commercialisation of research results, collaboration between industry and academia, and access to markets, finance, talent, and infrastructure. Rather than creating new funding programmes, the Act is intended to strengthen the framework conditions around existing EU support, helping innovative ideas developed in Europe move more effectively from research to market and scale across borders.

Rather than introducing sector-specific measures, the Act takes a cross-sectoral approach by addressing dependencies on critical technologies and raw materials through the resilience of European supply chains.

It followed an earlier public consultation that closed on 4 October 2025.

On 16 September 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered the SOTEU, an address focused on strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and economic resilience. She also highlighted priorities in security and defence, social inclusion, climate resilience, and protecting democracy and the rule of law. Key initiatives include Single Market reforms, regulatory simplification, housing, skills, critical raw materials, climate adaptation, and democratic resilience.

Priorities are framed around three broad objectives: strengthening Europe’s economy, enhancing security and resilience, and ensuring the EU has the resources and capacity to act.

Relevance for the battery sector

The EU faces significant dependencies on third countries for critical raw materials, particularly China. The Commission announced plans to establish a European Corporation on Critical Raw Materials. The initiative would aim to facilitate the procurement and stockpiling of key materials needed for sectors including electric vehicles, semiconductors, batteries, clean technologies and defence. The measures are presented as part of broader efforts to strengthen the resilience, competitiveness and strategic autonomy of European industry.
Moreover, during her speech before the MEPs on Wednesday, von der Leyen invited Canada to become “the first associate member of the European Union”. She called for a new alliance with Ottawa, which could include tech, defence, Arctic joint projects, but also energy, critical minerals and artificial intelligence.

Join BEPA’s new projects webinar to learn about the research results of TEMPEST, NEXTBAT and EXTENDED.

Each project will present the results which came out of their research, with some time for Q&A with the audience.

The #BATT4EU partnership projects focusing on battery research and innovation are demonstrating impressive progress and delivering groundbreaking results across the entire battery value chain.

To highlight their achievements and share their success stories, BEPA is organising a dedicated webinar series: #BATT4EU Success Stories.

Register here!

Batteries Event 2026 will take place on 16–18 November 2026 in Lyon, France, bringing together stakeholders from across the global battery ecosystem for three days of discussions, knowledge exchange and networking.

The event will gather more than 1,000 participants, 150 speakers and 100 exhibitors, including representatives from industry, research, academia and the wider battery community.

The programme will address developments and challenges across the entire battery value chain, covering topics such as battery materials and components, cell manufacturing, next-generation battery technologies, industrial scale-up, recycling and second life, as well as a wide range of battery applications.

Alongside the conference programme, participants will have the opportunity to meet battery experts and industry representatives through technical sessions, workshops, the exhibition and dedicated networking opportunities.

BEPA is supporting Batteries Event 2026 as a Media Partner. Therefore, for our Members, we offer a 20 % discount – find out more here!

Discover more about the event!

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