EIT InnoEnergy, and France have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the EBA250 Academy to reskill and upskill tens of thousands of workers for the French battery industry.
As one of the leading actors under the European Battery Alliance (EBA), France – with three Gigafactories in the making and foreseen to operate in 2023 – has a growing need for specialised engineers and technicians. To fill this gap, EIT InnoEnergy, coordinating the industrial work under the EBA, will spearhead an education-sharing platform to dramatically reduce the costs of reskilling and upskilling.
EIT InnoEnergy, Netherlands and Belgium, is an innovation community supported by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. The public-private partnership will address the emerging skills gap with approximately 800,000 qualified workers required in the European battery industry by 2025.
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, said: “The European battery project is at the heart of our ambition for a green, digital, resilient European industry. For a competitive and sustainable EU battery value chain, it is essential to support our workforce in developing the necessary skills, in line with the Pact for Skills. This partnership will train 150,000 people in France by 2025 to support the transitioning of jobs to electric mobility and boost the competitiveness of the European battery sector”.
EIT InnoEnergy plans to urgently roll-out its training programme in France and throughout Europe to upskill personnel for technician, engineering and researcher positions. The courses have been designed by experts currently working in the battery sector and will cover a range of topics from electromobility, residential storage and grid storage, to recycling and data science. The modules will be delivered by local training organisations online, although some may require physical attendance at local training facilities, and any engineer or executives working in energy can apply.