Can Europe recharge its battery industry?

Can Europe revive its battery industry?

In recent years, Europe has made some bold bets in batteries, but it has also suffered a few very visible setbacks.

Both Sweden’s Northvolt, external and Norway’s Morrow, external have filed for bankruptcy, and there is concern in Europe that the continent has missed yet another major technology transition.

As more transport and industry move away from fossil fuels and toward electricity, batteries are expected to become a growth sector.

But the long lead times needed to bring new products to market, combined with fierce competition — especially from China — make this a high-risk field.

Could the solution be found at a scale that is almost impossibly small? More and more investors and researchers believe it could.

A single nanometre is one-billionth of a metre, yet some of the most important work is happening at that level.

"If you can make this work, it touches so many industries [but] it's a risky business," says Christian Rood, chief executive of Dutch tech firm LeydenJar.

The company, named after an 18th century forerunner of electric cells, uses a method called plasma deposition to create a lighter, more efficient anode — a vital part of every battery.

Silicon is a very effective and inexpensive material for anodes, but pure silicon expands and contracts as a battery runs and is recharged, which makes it crack.

Using plasma deposition, however, LeydenJar can build an ultra-thin pure silicon foil, layer by tiny layer, that resists cracking and can significantly improve battery life, charging speed and energy density — by up to 50%, according to LeydenJar.

"Where normally a pure silicon anode would fall apart, [this] remains stable, so it was a very wonderful invention," says Rood.

"We address the bottleneck in the battery."

The company expects commercial-scale production to begin at the end of 2026, but reaching this stage has taken 10 years — a clear example of the time and investment Deep Tech innovations demand.

It is no accident that LeydenJar’s factory is located in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, home to ASML and other major names in the computer chip sector.

"A lot of people talk theoretically about ecosystems; I can tell you this is one of our sources of competitive advantage," Rood says.

"It's really the crossover from semiconductors to batteries that makes us different - once you've demonstrated the principle in the lab, industrialization requires you to work with the semiconductor technology and suppliers.

"That means a lot of risk, but also a lot of opportunity in terms of patenting, in terms of securing your whole intellectual property. And that's much more difficult to do in the US or in China."

Across the Netherlands and Europe more broadly, several smaller Deep Tech start-ups are trying to apply nanotechnology to the battery market.

One of them is Powall, a start-up in Delft in the Netherlands, which is developing commercial-scale equipment to nanocoat the powders that are the raw materials for today’s batteries.

Once again, the scale is tiny, and once again the method originated in the semiconductor industry.

The individual powder granules are measured in micrometres, while the coatings are measured in nanometres, and they are applied using a process known as atomic layer deposition.

Roderik Colen, CEO of Powall, says the system creates several ways to adjust and improve the performance of today’s batteries.

"Your battery works less well than before after using it thousands of times - that degrading or aging can be slowed down when you're using a nanocoating," Colen explains.

"You can have an exciting new material with a higher capacity or fast charging, all these novel developments. They typically have one element which is very good, but they suffer on the durability side."

And that means they will never become a commercial product.

"That's where we then come in, to give them the protective coating to effectively enable these new materials."

The powders and the coating are carried by gas and brought together in a chemical reaction.

Colen says it is a precise but adaptable process that can be modified almost endlessly.

"You have great accuracy in how thick you want to have it. And that makes a difference in performance."

Neither LeydenJar nor Powall is trying to build a complete battery, and both already have commercial ties with customers in Asia.

But Christian Rood of LeydenJar says firms like his can strengthen Europe’s position in what has become a global competition.

"The easy comparison is with semiconductors, where there's really a race for the best chip technology.

"[Dutch tech giant] ASML is not producing chips; it focuses on a critical step in the production of chips, and in that way, has a seat at the table when it comes to the whole semiconductor battle.

"This is our ambition as well – to have a position where our battery anode is so unique that we have an important position in the supply chain."

So how do these ambitions fit into Europe’s wider battery goals?

Alexander Brown is a senior analyst at the Berlin-based independent think-tank the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics).

"I think having one part of the supply chain based in Europe is great and if that can be a very advanced technological part, which offers the opportunity for high margins, that's fantastic," Brown tells me.

But he warns that while "there can be collaboration as well as competition at the same time", China in particular will keep trying to cut its reliance on other regions.

"China is working very hard to develop local alternatives for technologies, including these niche technologies.

"It's no secret that China would love to replace ASML - they're working very hard to do that, and it's not unforeseeable that they will achieve that goal eventually.

"So, I think Europe has traditional strengths in developing very exquisite high-quality products, which can find markets all over the world.

"But I also think it's important for that not to be the only strategy [from the continent's policy makers]."

The difficulties of operating in such a specialised area are not just technological.

LeydenJar has already reached commercial scale, but Rood says raising money in Europe is not always straightforward.

"There is sufficient financing in Europe, but the risk attitude is quite different than in Asia and in the US," says Rood.

"That means for a company like us that you have to work with different sources of funding at the same time," Rood explains.

He names government grants, debt financing, support from the European Investment Bank and investors prepared to take an equity stake in the company.

"They set a lot of challenging conditions, and they all want to do their own due diligence. It's hard work," Rood says.

Powall’s Colen says Europe, and the Netherlands especially, is an "innovation powerhouse", and battery technology gives the continent a chance to make an impact if it is willing to accept the risk.

"It's a relatively young industry where factories are being built left, right and centre. They're searching for the right tech. So that's where you can play a big role, because the volumes are huge."

Perhaps Europe’s role in the sector will not be in building giant battery gigafactories, but at the opposite end of the scale entirely.

As Colen puts it, "small changes make big differences."