Flow Batteries Europe (FBE), the European association representing the flow batteries value chain, recommends EU legislators to include flow batteries in the scope of the Battery Passport obligations, including the carbon footprint calculation and declaration.

FBE welcomes the proposed Batteries Regulation and the Battery Passport, as the European Union needs a comprehensive piece of legislation to ensure the social and environmental sustainability of batteries as the key energy storage technology.

However, the current proposal focuses on batteries with internal storage excluding other important battery technologies, such as flow batteries. This is extremely problematic because, for the energy system to become carbon neutral, we need not only more energy coming from renewable sources but also adequate long-term energy storage technologies to help meet the energy demand. Excluding flow batteries from the key obligations of the Battery Passport may therefore endanger the competitiveness of the battery value chain, and the achievement of the decarbonisation goals set for 2050.

Anthony Price, Secretary-General of Flow Batteries Europe, commented “Flow batteries already present strong sustainability benefits, and the industry is willing to push them even further. However, we need a signal from the legislators. The European Union must put in place the right investment and legislation for long-duration energy storage to thrive”.

We believe that all flow batteries must be included in the scope of the proposed Battery Passport. Only by establishing a level playing field between different battery technologies can the Battery Regulation guarantee the sustainability of the different energy storage technologies, and ultimately the realisation of the EU Green Deal goals.