According to foreign media reports, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) confirmed the concerns of German battery researchers about the budget.
From 2025, the Ministry may no longer fund new battery research projects, and only ongoing projects can continue to receive the necessary funding.
The lithium-ion battery capacity network (Klib), a German agency, warned last week that battery funding could not only be reduced, but could also be cancelled.
The Association believes that the current draft budget for 2025 shows that German ministries plan to fund only ongoing projects.
As it turns out, the agency’s statement is correct.
Klib said the move would pose a serious threat to the competitiveness of German industry.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research confirmed to foreign media: “from 2025, the possibility of using the remaining funds to start any new battery research projects is very small.
” Although the Climate and Transformation Fund will not end until 2028, it will only support ongoing projects or new projects that begin this year.
A spokesman for the department said: “in the current 2024 budget year, [the department] can still provide new incentives in the area of battery research, which will continue until 2028.
The funding required from 2025 to 2028 has been included in the budget.
” At present, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is still studying the “practical plan to further strengthen battery research activities”.
Photo Source: Volkswagen, Klib expected this for a long time.
The agency’s concerns are mainly based on the federal government’s budget plan: this year, the battery industry’s reduced budget totaled 155 million euros, of which 135 million euros was for ongoing projects and 20 million euros for new approvals.
Since research projects usually last several years rather than one year, follow-up funds have also been earmarked for the next few years in newly approved projects.
These provisions in the future budget are referred to as committed allocations.
Although the draft 2025 budget includes 118 million euros for battery research, unlike the 2024 budget, it no longer contains any committed allocations to ensure the continuation of new projects.
Klib concluded that 118 million euros would be used to finance ongoing projects and that new projects would no longer be approved.
Now, the agency’s forecast is accurate.
Klib worries that the cancellation of the R & D budget will dry up the sources of innovation for German industrial applications.
Hildegard M ü ller, president of the German Association of Automobile Manufacturers (VDA), was also shocked.
“A year ago, the German government said it would turn Germany into a battery center, but now it says that future research funding will be completely cancelled,” M ü ller said.
” She believes that the planned cuts clearly demonstrate “the contradiction between the set goals and the actual policy”.
Martin Winter of the MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Munster said: “other countries are investing more money because this is a critical time to put research results into practice.
Countries such as China and South Korea are investing heavily in the technology, which is critical for applications such as electric vehicles or renewable energy storage.
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