The battery sector is estimated to be worth €250bn in Europe by 2025 and will create 4 million new jobs. Associated with this growth is the predicted need for training (upskilling and reskilling) of around 800,000 people across Europe. EIT InnoEnergy was appointed by the European Commission to coordinate the industrial initiative European Battery Alliance – EBA250, which includes the activities of the EBA Academy and whose mission is to educate and train the human capital needed for the energy transition, with special focus on the battery value chain in Europe. 

According to Mikel Lasa, CEO EIT InnoEnergy Iberia, this protocol “is an important step towards implementing a retraining and reskilling plan for industrial workers in Portugal and putting the country on the front line to meet the demands of the fast-growing European battery market, in which a robust, industry-led reform is needed.” The EBA Academy is a learning service platform that covers the entire battery value chain, from raw materials to applications and recycling, with more than 30 different learning packages. This platform is already present in several European countries, such as Spain and France, through local training entities, which will adapt the learning packages to local needs. 

On the other hand, ATEC, through its General Director, João Carlos Costa, highlights that “this partnership allows us to provide the national market with a high-quality training offer, in a fast-growing sector, giving continuity to the several initiatives with which ATEC has been collaborating at a national and European level”. ATEC is a training academy with extensive experience in training assets and has been working actively with several national and European partners in the development of training for the battery sector. In this context, EIT InnoEnergy and ATEC sign a cooperation agreement that will allow ATEC to develop in the Portuguese market the training offer of the EBA Academy in the area of batteries.