Building a more resilient battery value chain for Europe and why we must act now

The projections from SolarPower Europe make clear that we are entering a period of extraordinary growth. This growth represents both opportunity and urgency.

By 2029, Europe will have millions more electric vehicles on the road, each containing a valuable battery pack. If current trends continue, the vast majority of these batteries will either be exported or sent for recycling without capturing their full value through second-life applications.

But the window won’t stay open forever. Every year deepens Europe’s dependence, concentrates reliance on expertise abroad and diminishes the potential to build a domestic repurposing and recycling industry.

If we act now, we can still capture this value chain. Europe has world-class research institutions, strong automotive companies managing large fleets of EVs, and a growing domestic market for energy storage. The pieces are in place – what’s missing is coordinated action.

Building a European end-of-life battery value chain requires coordinated action.

Repurposing before recycling must be prioritised. Rather than premature recycling, we should be creating robust opportunities and clear regulatory frameworks to support this market. This includes: better technical standards for second life use; policies, business models and financing mechanisms that make repurposing batteries more economically attractive and support for companies building the expertise in these markets.

Recycling infrastructure: When batteries finally reach true end-of-life we must also be ready to process them domestically, securing critical materials for Europe and creating European jobs. By repurposing those batteries now, we have the opportunity to build this infrastructure here in time for their final recycling. 

Research and development needs sustained funding and support to maintain European competitiveness in battery diagnostics, repurposing technologies, and advanced recycling processes. This is an opportunity to innovate and lead.

Europe faces a choice. We can continue on the current path, installing massive amounts of battery capacity while remaining entirely dependent on foreign suppliers. Or we can act decisively to build a domestic battery value chain which starts with production, ends in recycling and puts repurposing firmly in the middle. 

The batteries are coming to Europe regardless. The only question is whether we’ll truly own them or whether we’ll just be borrowing someone else’s technology, on someone else’s terms.