On January 22-23, 2025, the EU-funded project ATENA+ held the kick-off meeting at the Saft facilities in Bordeaux, France. This event marked the official start of a four-year initiative to revolutionise energy storage systems with sustainable, high-performance sodium-ion battery technology.

ATENA+ aims to enhance the competitiveness of Europe’s battery industry by developing and demonstrating next-generation sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) designed for cost-effectiveness, safety, sustainability, and scalability.

Key project goals include:

• Optimising advanced materials such as cobalt-free layered oxides and EU-sourced biobased hard carbon.

• Developing environmentally friendly processes for high-performance electrode production.

• Manufacturing and testing SIB modules with integrated advanced Battery Management Systems (BMS).

• Validating the system’s performance across five real-world energy use cases.

A Dynamic Start at Saft’s Facilities
The two-day meeting brought together representatives from the 12 consortium partners, including research institutions, industrial leaders, and policy experts from across Europe. Discussions covered the project's strategic alignment with the EU Green Deal, technical advancements in chemistry, module development, and sustainability.

Participants also had the opportunity to visit Saft’s cutting-edge facilities, where advanced battery components are manufactured and handled in controlled environments. They explored the innovation incubator, a state-of-the-art space where a dedicated team designs and develops working prototypes and 3D models. These prototypes are subjected to rigorous testing under field-simulated conditions, such as temperature fluctuations, humidity, and vibrations, to evaluate and enhance battery performance and reliability.

Looking ahead

Project Coordinator Alberto Blázquez, from CIDETEC, remarked: "Coordinated by Sylvie Herreyre from Saft and me, the project involves leading institutions to manufacture and validate advanced SIB cells and modules for energy storage and transport applications. This initiative showcases innovative materials, eco-friendly processes, and cutting-edge designs to enhance performance, safety, and longevity."

Jasmin Jabbarpour, Project Management Officer at Fondazione ICONS, stressed the importance of raising the new project's profile: "The ATENA+ consortium is not only developing cutting-edge technology, but it will also ensure its impact is widely understood and embraced. This means bringing the project's innovations closer to industry, policymakers, and ultimately people more broadly.”
For further information about the project please contact the Project Coordinator Alberto Blázquez from Fundación CIDETEC at ablazquez@cidetec.es, or Luigia D’Alessandro, Communication Officer from Fondazione ICONS at luigia.dalessandro@icons.it.

ATENA+ Consortium Partners:

• Fundación CIDETEC

• SAFT

• TOPSOE Battery Materials A/S

• Stora Enso Oyj

• E-Lyte Innovations GmbH

• Iberdrola Renovables Energía SA

• Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW)

• RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB

• Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO)

• Life Cycle Engineering SPA

• Fondazione ICONS

• EnGreen SRL

Grant and Funding Details

The ATENA+ (Advanced Technology for Stationary Energy Storage Systems in Sodium-Ion) project, with a total grant amount of €6,999,684.64 (Grant Agreement No. 101192673), is a collaborative effort spanning 48 months.