Enhancing EU strategic autonomy and developing a greener and bluer economy: the potential of the sodium battery manufacturing sector

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Key Points

The EESC:

• considers sodium batteries a strategic technology and sees strong potential for Europe to take a technological lead in sodium–saltwater battery systems;
• stresses the potential of sodium batteries as enablers for EU's industrial policy objectives: they support the goals of the EU Green Deal and the EU Blue Deal, they can be critical tools to achieve strategic autonomy, and the establishment of sodium battery gigafactories would boost competitiveness and create jobs across the value chain;
• underlines that sodium batteries can be produced entirely from European raw materials, as sodium is abundantly available in the continent and there is a growing potential for a European desalinisation industry, and it can therefore reduce the use of critical raw materials;
• calls for decisive and coordinated EU action to establish a competitive sodium battery manufacturing industry, as sodium batteries advance globally and Europe risks widening the gap;
• recommends an update on the industrial pathway for batteries – covering both lithium and sodium, which should include a roadmap addressing workforce and social needs, with an investment in skills, workforce mobility and strategic SME involvement;
• insists on the importance of breaking policy silos and to align key EU strategies (Competitiveness Compass, Preparedness Union Strategy, Circular Economy Action Plan and Water Resilience Strategy) to develop a European sodium battery value chain that serves Europe's strategic goals; 
• recommends investment subsidies, production tax credits, targeted project calls, investment vouchers for industry cooperation with Research and Technology Organisations;
• calls for flexible public support that avoids premature lock-ins and for stronger collaborative R&D co-funded by governments and industry;
• recognizes the potential of the reconversion of industrial sites currently idle or closing into sodium battery gigafactories, as an efficient and environmentally responsible use of existing infrastructure;
• recognizes the importance of integrating eco-design and recycling in this manufacturing industry, fostering a circular sodium battery value chain.