Catalyse Europe President and Co-Founder Ann Mettler has written for Reuters on why batteries should be treated as critical infrastructure for Europe’s electrified economy.

The piece argues that the collapse of Northvolt should prompt Europe to rethink how it builds its battery industry, rather than whether it needs one. Batteries increasingly sit at the intersection of transport, electricity grids, robotics, autonomous systems and defence, making secure supply chains an economic and security issue. Europe’s electric future needs …

Drawing on Catalyse Europe’s Europe’s Electric Backbone report, Ann argues that Europe needs to move beyond relying on individual industrial champions and build a resilient battery ecosystem capable of competing and scaling.

“Northvolt should mark a turning point, not an endpoint.”

The article looks at what that would require, including sustained support from research through to manufacturing at scale, stronger demand for European production, partnerships with trusted countries, and policies that strengthen industrial capability without insulating companies from competition. Europe’s electric future needs … Europe’s electric future needs …

As Ann writes, the cost of failing to build that capacity is deeper dependency, lost investment and further erosion of Europe’s industrial base. Europe’s electric future needs …

Read Ann Mettler’s full commentary in Reuters: Europe’s electric future needs a battery industry of its own