A significant increase in the number of large-scale installations for the production of batteries for electric vehicles will likely take place within the Union up to and after 2030, increasing the Union’s share of the global battery production. As noted in Recital 13 of the EU Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive (IED 2.0), even if several of the activities in the batteries value chain are already regulated therein, and batteries are regulated as products by the EU Batteries Regulation, it is still necessary to include gigafactories in the scope of the IED 2.0, to ensure that the impact of batteries on the environment is minimised throughout their life cycle.
The manufacture of batteries, other than exclusively assembling, with a production capacity of 15 000 tonnes of battery cells (cathode, anode, electrolyte, separator, capsule) or more per year, has been included in the scope of the IED 2.0. The European Commission estimates that the inclusion concerns around 20-30 giga-batteries factories.
The draughting of the Production of Batteries in Giga-factories (PBG) BREF is scheduled to start in 2025.
Battery gigafactories comprise energy-intensive processes, and entail a number of complex manufacturing procedures using hazardous substances, potentially leading to impacts to air, water (use and quality) and waste generation. In addition to these impacts, it is expected that the BAT conclusions for these activities could be effective in addressing the use of resources, chemicals and in accident prevention.
PBG BREF: key milestones of the drafting process expected to start in 2025
The key milestones of the drafting process are the following:
1. The Kick-off Meeting (KoM) of the technical working group (date tbc)
- The KoM report, incl. decisions taken on the scope of the review and the key environmental issues to focus on (not available yet).
- The KoM background paper, summarising the stakeholders’ positions on key issues (not available yet).
2. The release of the first draft of the BREF (D1) (not available yet)
- The D1 of the BREF (not available yet).
- The EEB comments on the D1 (not available yet).
3. Deadline for comments on the D1: date tbc.
4. The Final Meeting (FM) of the technical working group (date tbc)
- The draft BAT conclusions as decided at the FM (not yet available).
- The background paper of the FM, summarising the stakeholders’ positions on key issues (not yet available), and the draft BAT conclusions discussed at the final meeting (not yet available).
- The Commission’s assessment on dissenting views following the FM (not yet available).
5. The meeting of the IED Forum
- The opinion of the Forum (not yet available).
6. The IED Article 75 Committee vote
7. The publication of the BAT conclusions in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU)
- The updated BAT conclusions (not yet available).
- The updated BREF (not yet available).
The publication of the BAT conclusions in the OJEU sets a four-year deadline for installations across the EU to comply with the requirements. However, if the BAT conclusions are published before an installation’s permit is issued, the installation must comply with the requirements immediately.
Current state-of play: discussion on environmental issues, BAT and BAT-AE(P)Ls
(not yet available)
Contacts
Aliki Kriekouki, Senior Policy Officer for Industrial Production: aliki.kriekouki@eeb.org