Under the umbrella of the European Battery Alliance, EIT InnoEnergy will ramp up efforts boost a sustainable and resilient Serbian battery ecosystem and embed it into the existing European value chain. This commitment, supported by several financial institutions and industrial companies, comes following the signing of a new agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Serbia (signed July 19 2024) to develop a strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials, battery and electric vehicle value chains.

 

Serbia holds some of Europe’s largest reserves of lithium – a key component of batteries used to power electric vehicles and other applications. Through EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, the European Commission is building a series of new Partnerships to diversify supply of raw materials such as lithium and reduce overreliance on imports from non-EU countries. In addition, key players in the battery value chain such as ElevenES, with LFP battery technology, are starting to emerge in Serbia.

 

Within this context, collaboration for the development of the EU-Serbia partnership was agreed by EIT InnoEnergy and representatives across the value chain building on an existing strong network of organisations active both in the EU and Serbia. These include the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), national promotional banks KfW (Germany) and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Italy), Mercedes-Benz, InoBat, Rio Tinto and the Republic of Serbia. Notably, InnoEnergy’s portfolio company ElevenES also supported the collaboration, which would provide the battery cell manufacturer enhanced access to the European single market.

With an existing record of cooperating closely with Serbian partners, the European Battery Alliance will further collaborate on identifying opportunities for developing industrial projects along the electric vehicle value chain, including battery manufacturing and raw material processing via new partnerships, joint ventures, and more. The growing Serbian value chain will be integrated into the already thriving European value chains.

The highest sustainability criteria and practices set out in the EU’s Battery Regulation and Critical Raw Materials Act, which the InnoEnergy’s European Battery Alliance actively contributed to, will be upheld by the collaborating partners. This includes sustainability criteria and due diligence on materials extraction, manufacturing and recycling methods. In addition, consultation and engagement of social partners, including representatives of local communities will be ensured.