German government invests in battery research despite scarce funds

18.04.2024

Source: Energie & Management Powernews

F&E. Federal funding for battery research has risen from 111 million euros in 2021 to 145 million euros in 2024. This was the government's response to a question from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

The federal government invested around 145 million euros in battery research in 2023, compared to 155 million euros this year. This is according to an answer from the German government to a minor question (20/10658) from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In 2022, it was around 124 million euros after 111 million euros in 2021, still under the grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD.

The answer also states that the Federal Government plans to "build a technologically sovereign, sustainable battery value chain" in Germany. The aim of the research is to reduce dependency on foreign players, as battery technology is of great importance both for the automotive industry and "to meet the growing demand for intermediate storage of electrical energy in the power grid".

Less funding for climate protection after court ruling

The CDU/CSU parliamentary group had feared that battery research funding would be cut due to savings in the federal budget. In November 2023, the Federal Constitutional Court prohibited the reallocation of 60 billion euros in unused coronavirus loans for climate protection following a lawsuit by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. This resulted in severe cuts to the federal budget and the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF).

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), on the other hand, emphasized the strategic importance of storage systems: "The BMBF is striving to cover the battery value chain as completely as possible in Germany and throughout Europe as a circular model." The aim is to make it easier to transfer research results into industrial applications. In this way, value creation can succeed and jobs can be created and secured.

"The BMBF believes that targeted, long-term and yet flexible funding of key technologies is necessary in order to be able to act with technological sovereignty in the long term," said the ministry, explaining the expenditure. For example, the establishment of the research production of a battery cell in Münster in 2024 will be funded with 53.5 million euros. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWK) is also funding battery research and its implementation in production, according to the response. No ongoing research projects are affected by the adjustments to the KTF.

Funding for 2025 not yet secured

Battery storage systems are also needed to support the stability of the power supply. "The focus here is not on storing electricity, but on the rapid response capability of battery storage systems to absorb or release very short-term power peaks and stabilize the frequency in the power grid," explains the German government. It is striving to ensure that the demand for battery cells and systems from companies producing here can be covered by domestic production by 2035. According to current forecasts, this should correspond to around 400 to 450 million kWh per year.

"As the 2025 budget is the subject of ongoing negotiations, no statement can currently be made on the future level of funding for battery research," it concludes.

The federal government's response to battery research is available to download as a PDF.

Author: Susanne Harmsen