Accelerating the Energy Transition: Battery Science & Innovation Forum at INL

From 20 to 21 May, the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) hosted the Battery Science & Innovation Forum on its campus in Braga, Portugal. Organised in partnership with the Sociedade Portuguesa de Materiais, CeNTI – Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, and the dst group, and sponsored by Ultraprecisão, Gravimeta, and ILC – Instrumentos de Laboratório e Científicos, the event brought together over 130 professionals from academia, industry, and policy to debate the latest advancements across the battery value chain. Key topics included advanced materials, cell design, manufacturing scale-up, circular economy, and system integration. Over the course of two days, the forum featured 22 scientific and industrial talks spanning lithium and non-lithium technologies, sodium-ion batteries, solid-state systems, and recycling.

INL’s Deputy General, Ado Jório, opened day one with a welcome address before handing the stage to the first keynote speaker, Frédéric Aguesse, Business Development Manager at CIDETEC. His talk, “Beyond the Lab: Scaling Next-Generation Battery Technologies from Research to Real-World Applications”, tackled one of the sector’s defining challenges: the journey from promising research to viable, large-scale deployment. It was a theme that would echo throughout the rest of the programme.

The second day was opened by António Braz Costa, Director General of CeNTI, before Patrik Johansson, Director of Battery 2030+, took the stage for the second keynote: “Next Generation Batteries: Where Can We Possibly Be in 2030+?”. Drawing on the trajectory of emerging batteries, Johansson’s address invited attendees to think seriously about what the next decade could realistically deliver. The morning also saw the announcement of the Best Poster Prize, worth €250 and sponsored by Ultraprecisão, awarded to “Electrochemical Flow Reactor for the Simultaneous Extraction of Strategic Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries” by Teresa Marramaque, Paula Dias, Miguel Duarte, and Adélio Mendes.

Away from the lecture hall, six prototype demonstrations gave attendees the chance to engage directly with the latest advances in battery technology. Complementing the insightful discussions taking place on stage, the prototypes developed by INL, CeNTI, and Controlar served as a reminder that some of the most exciting work in this field is already leaving the lab.

The forum closed with a keynote address from Álvaro Santos, President of CCDR-Norte, who spoke on the strategic importance of batteries as a catalyst for European autonomy and underscored the urgent need to translate scientific progress into industrial value.

Finally, the Battery Science & Innovation Forum made a compelling case for the kind of cross-sector, cross-border collaboration that Europe’s battery ambitions will depend on. For INL, the forum was equally a reflection of its own commitment to that effort, positioning itself as an active contributor to the European battery ecosystem, and ensuring that the science happening feeds meaningfully into the EU-wide battery agenda.