By ATN Editorial Team
Summary: The European Commission has formally established the Battery Booster Facility, mobilising up to €1.5 billion from EU Emissions Trading System revenues through the Innovation Fund to help battery cell manufacturers scale production in Europe. For the first time, the Commission will provide direct support as interest-free loans, with a call for proposals planned for the third quarter of 2026 and first payments targeted before the end of the year. It is the largest single EU intervention in battery manufacturing to date.
Key engineering takeaway: Eligible projects must produce battery technology suitable for electric vehicles, be located in the European Economic Area and commit to a minimum production capacity of 10GWh. Loans are capped at €500 million per project and applications will be judged on technical and financial maturity — a battery manufacturing scale-up filter, not a research grant.
Why it matters: The capital-intensive jump from pilot line to gigawatt-hour-scale battery manufacturing is where European cell makers have repeatedly stalled against Asian incumbents. Interest-free debt at this scale changes project economics for cell suppliers — and for the OEMs that depend on a regional supply of qualified cells.
€1.5 Billion For European Battery Manufacturing
Today, the European Commission has formally established the new Battery Booster Facility C(2026) 3828/2. Mobilising up to €1.5 billion from EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) revenues in the Innovation Fund, the Booster will help battery cell manufacturers to ramp up production in Europe. For the first time, the Commission will provide direct support in the form of interest-free loans.
The Battery Booster Facility will catalyse private investment, accelerate industrial deployment and strengthen Europe’s industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy in clean technologies. Eligible projects must produce battery technology suitable for use in electric vehicles (EVs), although off takers may use the products for other purposes. Production must be located within the European Economic Area (EEA), with a minimum production capacity of 10GWh.
The maximum loan amount per project is €500 million. The loan instrument has been chosen over traditional grants to encourage sound capital management, drive companies towards commercial viability faster and complement private sector investments. Applications will be evaluated based on their technical and financial maturity, and their added value for the European economy.
Following the adoption of today’s Decision, the Commission will launch a call for proposals in Q3 2026, indicatively for 6 weeks. The Commission aims to award the first projects under the Facility and make the first payments before the end of 2026.
Background And Next Steps
Today’s Decision builds on a series of recent Innovation Fund initiatives in support of the EU battery sector. In December 2024, the Innovation Fund launched a €1 billion call for proposals for electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing (IF24 Battery). At the same time, the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) presented a €200 million top-up from the Innovation Fund to the InvestEU guarantee to support investment in European battery manufacturing.
The Innovation Fund, financed by revenues from the auctioning of allowances under the EU ETS supports the deployment of innovative net-zero technologies, including batteries, helping to boost the EU’s industrial manufacturing capacity.
On 16 December 2025, the Commission adopted the Communication on a Battery Booster Strategy, which announced the Battery Booster Facility. In March 2026, the Commission consulted the public on the draft Commission Decision on the Facility, gathering stakeholder input ahead of today’s formal adoption.
Europe’s battery industry has made important steps forward but is now at a critical juncture. This is the right time to support them to reach commercial success. The Battery Booster Facility does exactly that: it steps in at the most critical and capital-intensive phase of industrial scale-up and does so in a way that is financially sound. It attracts private investment and drives companies towards full-scale production. This will support the European automotive industry to step up electric vehicle production with European batteries. Funded with the revenues from the Emission Trading System, it is turning the cost of emissions into the fuel for innovation.
Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth
The €1.5 billion Battery Booster Facility is about ensuring that Europe masters this critical asset for the clean transition. We need batteries made in Europe for applications in strategic sectors such as automotive, grid management or drones for defence. At the most critical stage of industrial scale-up, it will give selected manufacturers in Europe the support they need to reach full production and compete globally. Together with the Industrial Accelerator Act and its ‘Made in the EU’ criteria for batteries, we are sending a clear signal: Europe will invest in its own industrial strength. This is about resilience, competitiveness and sovereignty – building a European battery value chain from raw materials to recycling, reducing strategic dependencies, and securing the future of Europe’s automotive industry.
Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy
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