The activity consists in the monitoring of and participation in working groups established within the framework of various regional, national, European and international initiatives on Storage Systems (SS), such as:
• European Battery Alliance, an initiative promoted by the European Commission (EC) to develop the whole industrial battery supply chain in Europe;
• ETIP BatteRIes Europe, a European technology platform dedicated to batteries;
• ETIP-SNET, a European technological platform that brings together the interests of different stakeholders on energy systems; notably, WG2 ‘Storage technologies and sector interfaces’ deals with Storage Systems (SSs) and their interaction with the electricity system;
• Batteries European Partnership (Batt4EU), the new European partnership within the framework of Horizon Europe which brings together stakeholders across the entire battery value chain;
• Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) the partnership relating to technologies and systems for the energy transition, including SSs;
• the Smart Specialization Platforms (S3P) established within the framework of cohesion policy, including Advanced Materials for Batteries (AMBP) for the definition of interregional projects for the development of a European battery supply chain;
• EERA, European alliance of energy technologies research organizations, including the JP ‘Energy Storage’ which specifically concerns SSs;
• Battery 2030+, a coordination action between research organizations and industry to define the long-term strategic R&I agenda for batteries;
• Mission Innovation, a global initiative aimed at increasing funds dedicated to research and development on the topic of clean energy and making these activities more effective through international coordination;
• Italian Battery Alliance (under activation), an initiative similar to the European Battery Alliance, which will support Italian operators;
• The Italian Group of Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems (Gruppo Italiano di Sistemi di Accumulo Elettrochimico di Energia, GISEL) which brings together Italian operators carrying out R&I on advanced materials for batteries, a group which is part of the Italian Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali, INSTM).
The role of national and regional clusters and some European associations is also outlined.
• National Energy Technology Cluster (Cluster Tecnologico Nazionale Energia, CTNE), whose mission is to define national innovation programs in the energy sector. Not negligible in this context is the issue of energy networks and flexibility resources such as SSs;
• Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster (LE2C), Lombardy cluster on energy and environment. The Smart Energy System area proposes storage as a collaboration theme between industry and research;
• Emilia Romagna Clust-ER Greentech, where the Low Carbon Economy value chain is active which has Smart Energy Systems among its strategic objectives, also including storage;
• EMIRI, an association of European industrial groups and research organizations dealing with energy materials, including storage materials which play a leading role.
The main funding programs are mentioned, including:
• European programs such as Horizon Europe, M-era.Net, Era-Net Smart Energy System;
• other forms of financing and activation of investment projects in R&I and in the development of production chains, such as the Innovation Fund, the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and the Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) instrument;
• national funds for the development of storage systems, allocated through the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

The above-mentioned initiatives and programs operate in multiple areas of research, innovation and competitive development of SSs: technological and materials development; integration with the electricity grid or energy networks; implementation of industrial research projects; set up of networks bringing together research and industry; international initiatives to align research and innovation agendas globally.
RSE, ENEA [Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development] and CNR [National Research Council of Italy] participated in close collaboration in the meetings (online during the pandemic), the discussions and the work of all the above initiatives, to help the Italian industry and small and medium-sized enterprises implement technological innovation, as well as to direct the financing plans of European research and development policies.
The presence of these three entities as a technical-consultative body of MiTE [Italian ministry of ecological transition], MiSE [Italian ministry of the environment and energy security] and MUR [Italian ministry of university and research] and as aggregators of national stakeholders on the various tables is intended to generate virtuous mechanisms of competitive research and technological transfer, and to build cohesion among Italian skills, so that Italy has more weight in Europe.