Coordination of European Research on Industrial Safety towards Smart and Sustainable Growth
SuESS
Safe- and sustainability-by-design approaches for energy storage systems in a green and circular economy
Stationary energy storage systems are becoming essential for integrating renewable energy sources and stabilising electricity grids, yet concerns persist regarding their safety, sustainability and social impacts across the full value chain. Different storage technologies, including flow batteries and secondary lithium-ion batteries, present distinct risk profiles, criticality issues and environmental trade-offs, and stakeholders increasingly demand transparent assessment and management of these impacts. While progress has been made in developing safer materials and improved system designs, decision-makers still face limited guidance on how to systematically integrate safety and sustainability considerations from early design through end-of-life in a circular economy context. Existing assessments can be fragmented, focusing on either technical safety, environmental impacts or critical raw materials, without a consolidated approach aligned with Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design principles. SuESS addresses these challenges by developing SSbD-oriented approaches for energy storage systems, combining risk and criticality assessment, sustainability assessment and life cycle management to support safer and more sustainable deployment of ESS technologies.
The project investigates how risks and criticality issues for different stationary energy storage technologies can be systematically assessed, including safety hazards, critical raw materials and supply chain vulnerabilities. It explores how sustainability assessment methods can be applied to compare ESS options across environmental and social dimensions and how uncertainties and data gaps can be managed. The project examines how life cycle management approaches can operationalise assessment findings into practical design and management measures for a green and circular economy. Another research question concerns how Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design principles can be implemented and consolidated for ESS, including the definition of indicators and decision-support criteria that are meaningful for stakeholders. The project also explores how assessment results can be communicated and translated into recommendations supporting policy, industrial decision-making and responsible innovation in the context of renewable energy transitions.
SuESS will deliver an SSbD-oriented assessment framework for stationary energy storage systems, including structured methodologies for risk and criticality assessment and comparative sustainability assessment. The project will provide life cycle management guidance translating assessment findings into actionable measures for design, operation and end-of-life in a circular economy context. Outputs will include indicators and decision-support elements supporting SSbD implementation for flow batteries and secondary lithium-ion batteries. The project will deliver consolidated recommendations for stakeholders, informed by cross-technology comparisons and value-chain considerations, supporting safer and more sustainable deployment of ESS. Dissemination outputs will promote uptake by industry, policy and research communities and contribute to the evidence base for SSbD implementation in the energy storage domain.
The project is implemented over 24 months through six coordinated work packages. - WP1 – Project management: ensures governance, reporting, quality assurance and coordination of consortium activities. - WP2 – Risk and criticality assessment: assesses safety hazards and criticality aspects, including critical raw materials and supply chain considerations for ESS technologies. - WP3 – Sustainability assessment: applies sustainability assessment methods to compare ESS options across environmental and social dimensions and identify hotspots. - WP4 – Life cycle management: translates assessment findings into life cycle management strategies supporting circularity, safe operation and end-of-life options. - WP5 – SSbD implementation and consolidation: defines SSbD indicators and decision-support elements and consolidates an integrated SSbD approach for ESS. - WP6 – Dissemination and communication: implements communication activities and stakeholder engagement to support uptake of methods and recommendations.
BMK
Austria
OSALAN
Spain