In just under two years since its inception, the InnoEnergy Skills Institute has achieved the significant milestone of upskilling 50,000 battery industry professionals.
Established in February 2022, the InnoEnergy Skills Institute is a pioneering force in training for the sustainable energy sector across Europe.
Under the auspices of EIT InnoEnergy, an impressive 50,000 learners have now completed training courses designed to equip them with the essential skills needed to thrive in an ever-evolving battery value chain.
Oana Penu, Director of InnoEnergy Skills Institute, emphasised the significance of the achievement: “EIT InnoEnergy firmly believes that enabling ecosystems is key to addressing skills gaps at scale.
“Through the InnoEnergy Skills Institute, we are mobilising both industry and training development partners as multipliers; we can successfully propagate knowledge to even more learners around Europe.
“At a critical moment for European industry, we aim to empower the workforce to be active participants in the net zero transition and ensure nobody is left behind.”
Landscape of the battery value chain skills gap
This milestone is set against a backdrop of exponential growth projections within the energy sector’s value chain.
Global demand for lithium-ion batteries is anticipated to soar to 4,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2030, a staggering six-fold increase from the 2022 usage figure of approximately 700 GWh.
Projections also indicate a monumental rise in stationary storage installations, which are expected to surpass 400 gigawatts by 2030, representing a fifteen-fold increase from 2021’s capacity.
However, as the sector burgeons, the demand for skilled workers skyrockets in tandem. Market analysts forecast that by 2025, around 800,000 workers will need to undergo training or upskilling to meet Europe’s escalating demand.
In a recent report, the InnoEnergy Skills Institute identified over 700 unique job profiles and skill sets crucial within the sector, spanning from material extraction to battery integration, decommissioning, and recycling.
How the InnoEnergy Skills Institute is plugging the gap
The InnoEnergy Skills Institute training modules, developed in collaboration with the European Battery Alliance, encompass a broad spectrum.
From foundational battery knowledge to specialised technical courses covering battery management systems, testing protocols, safety measures, and security protocols, these programmes are tailored to meet the burgeoning needs of the industry.
The success story of the Skills Institute has been bolstered by support from 11 Member States and strategic partnerships with industry behemoths such as ManpowerGroup and NIIT.
Currently offering 35 learning packages in ten languages and collaborating with a network of 4,000 Local Training Providers, the Institute foresees an exponential surge in both trainers and learners.
The crowning moment of the Institute’s achievement will be celebrated with a certificate awarding ceremony conducted today by Maroš Šefčovič, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission.
The ceremony will honour learners from Slovakia, Poland, Spain, Romania, and Sweden. These individuals will share their testimonials, marking this milestone of upskilling 50,000 workers.
Šefčovič commented: “We want our European industry to be leaders in the green transition. This, of course, includes European manufacturers of sustainable batteries, whom, as recently announced, we will support with financial aid of up to €3bn.
“With this support, but also with the continuation of our efforts to prepare the workforce with skills for the evolving industry, we will bolster the competitive edge of our companies and secure a strong value chain for batteries.”
This feat aligns with the conclusion of the European Commission’s ‘European Year of Skills,’ an initiative aimed at fostering cross-sector workforce development to meet the burgeoning demand for skills required for sustainable growth, increased innovation, and heightened global competitiveness of domestic companies.
As the InnoEnergy Skills Institute continues to pave the way for a greener, more sustainable future, its impact on Europe’s workforce development remains a beacon of progress in the transition towards a more environmentally conscious industry.
