They received especially positive reviews. battery manufacturing companies The European initiative is a response to a huge US subsidy package for green transition technology (batteries, clean energy, etc.), as mentioned in a related article in the British newspaper The Financial Times. However, they warned that there had to be very quick mobilization and simple procedures or investment would be attracted across the Atlantic. For example, his German giant Volkswagen and Norwegian battery maker Freyr Battery have unveiled plans to build battery factories in North America, postponing similar factories in Europe. The last law of the American President Joe Biden fight with it inflation adjustment (IRA) provides for generous subsidies that could amount to $10 billion per plant. At the same time, Sweden’s Northvolt, an ambitious car battery start-up, has great potential to become the largest of its kind on the Old Continent if it secures the necessary funding, some of which may come from European funds.

Olivier Dufour, co-founder of French battery company Verkor, said the European Union’s proposals were “generally very positive.”

Several European groups criticized the EU’s response. in the form of zero pollution legislation for industry announced a few days ago. However, the battery companies were received differently, in an industry that Brussels had a lot of faith in over the past five years. “We are inspired by what we see. Now is the time to move from our ambition to action,” said Tom Jensen, CEO of Freyr. Backed by major shareholder Koch Industries, Freyr recently accelerated plans to build a plant in the US state of Georgia through the Inflation Arrest Act (IRA). Olivier Dufour, co-founder of French battery company Verkor, said the EU proposals were “generally very positive. What is very important is that they take into account the entire international context, not only the US with the IRA, but also China, India.” In addition to the Zero Emissions Law for Industry, companies in the sector have stressed that the temporary energy crisis and transition framework recently approved by Brussels in response to severe disruptions in the energy market is of much greater importance. Subsidies are planned through 2025 to support investment costs for projects such as batteries, wind and solar power, and carbon capture and storage.

“It doesn’t have the clarity or ease of use of an IRA, but the European authorities acted quickly and did something,” a senior European battery industry official said, calling the move a “standard bureaucratic response” from the EU. The test of the European initiative is likely to take place in April, when the Swedish company Northvolt decides whether to build its next plant in Germany or the US, according to the Financial Times. Finally, it is remembered that he was the first in the EU. which opened a giant battery factory in 2021. Its leaders delayed the decision to give the EU time. to answer the IRA.