The Technical Working Groups have officially started!

11 August 2021

After the official launch of the BATT4EU Partnership in June 2021, BEPA – the Batteries European Partnership Association – has taken swift action! From 13^th to 23^rd July, the 5 Technical Working Groups (TWGs) of the association, covering the whole battery value-chain, have kicked-off. For more information on the BEPA Technical Working Groups, click here.

Currently bringing together between 70 and 120 participants per group, these TWGs aim to bring together industry, research and other organisations’ experts from specific R&I areas in order to discuss the impending R&I priorities that need to be addressed in the coming years in Horizon Europe.

The main mission of TWGs is, therefore, to identify, prioritise and draft the R&I topics which will be submitted to the European Commission as recommendations for the next Horizon Europe Work Programmes. In this context, the TWGs have to consider the topics which will have the biggest impact on industrialization and competitiveness for the European battery value-chain; the calls will be drafted accordingly so to yield the highest R&I results.

The kick-off meetings mainly introduced the tasks and deliverables that are expected from each TWGs; they also gave the Core Team in charge of each TWG the opportunity to introduce themselves and brainstorm on the most urgent R&I topics (Please find the results of the TWGs Core Teams election at the end of this article).

All TWGs meetings saw fruitful discussions and deep dives on some of the most pressing issue. In TWG1 (dedicated to Raw materials and recycling) for example, discussions were focused on the link between battery manufacturers and end-of-life / 2^nd life aspects, and the need to collaborate with other BEPA TWGs to make sure that such matters are tackled. High-capacity, high-voltage aspects, and their continued relevance for cell manufacturers are the topics addressed in TWG2 (dedicated to Advanced materials and manufacturing), instead. It was also raised that high-power applications should be considered together with other solutions aside from Li-batteries technologies; this would ensure more flexibility in calls for proposals. In TWG3 (dedicated to Battery end-uses and applications), experts brainstormed mostly on the combination of vehicle technologies with cells and on the modelling of 2^nd life batteries, something that is highly linked with mobile applications, especially at the design phase.

Additionally, 2 cross-cutting TWGs have been established under BEPA to deal with those battery aspects cross-cutting the entire value-chain. In TWG4 (dedicated to Safety & Reliability) for example, BEPA experts pointed out the importance of the “safe-by-design” topic: including safety aspects from the beginning of the production process of battery materials. Here the common agreement was that BEPA will need to coordinate with regulatory and standarisation bodies with a view to defining harmonized safety standards. Finally, in TWG5 (dedicated to Sustainability), the link between manufacturing and sustainability was also highlighted: design and manufacturing have a key impact on the carbon footprint and sustainability standards of the battery value-chain. In this perspective, harmonization of LCA and S-LCA methods were also crucial points for discussion.

In light of such productive brainstorming sessions, TWGs will start coordinating meetings in September 2021 to start working on the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024. The TWGS will be provided with input, amongst others, from the ETIP Batteries Europe, which gathers the full range of R&I needs for the battery value-chain.

If you wish to join BEPA Technical Working Groups and help us design the future R&I priorities for the European battery sector, please note that you can only do so by first becoming a member of BEPA (more information on how to join BEPA available at this link). Once your BEPA membership has been approved, you will be able to register in one of the Technical Working Groups (registration form available at this link).

REPRESENTATIVES ELECTED IN TWGs’ CORE TEAMS:

TWG1 – Raw materials and Recycling:

Leader: Fabrice Stassin, UMICORE

Co-leader: Marcello Colledani, POLITECNICO DI MILANO

Technical Advisor: Marcel Weil, KIT

TWG2 – Advanced materials and manufacturing   

Leader: Kristina Edström, UPPSALA UNIVERSITY

Co-leader: Jeremie Auvergniot, UMICORE

Technical Advisor: Montse Casa Cabanas, CIC ENERGIGUNE

TWG3 – Battery end-uses and applications  

Leader: Christian Noce, ENEL

Co-leader: Stefan Wolf, VDI/VDE Innovation+Teknik

Technical Advisor: Volker Hennige, AVL List

TWG4 – Safety & Reliability  

Leader: Laurent Torcheux, EDF

Co-leader: Roberto Pacios, CIC ENERGIGUNE

Technical Advisor: Thilo Bein, Fraunhofer

TWG5 – Sustainability

Leader: Nicola Tagliafierro, ENEL

Co-leader: Stefani Passerini, KIT

Technical Advisor: Andrea Casa, CIC ENERGIGUNE

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TWGs:

Please contact Wouter IJzermans for TWG2 and TWG3: w.ijzermans@bepassociation.eu

Please contact Capucine Vannoorenberghe for TWG1, TWG4, TWG5: c.vannoorenberghe@bepassociation.eu

PRESS & MEDIA CONTACT:

Please contact Elisabetta Frisaldi: e.frisaldi@bepassociation.eu