The industry is seeking alternative battery technologies to reduce the dependency on lithium. Sodium-ion batteries are considered as potential new battery technology that could expand its importance on the market soon. Manufacturers utilize different sodium-ion technolgies to compete with lithium-ion battery performances.

In this post we will discuss the following topics:

• Why are sodium-ion batteries relevant?
• Sodium-ion vs. lithium-ion battery technologies
• The importance of sodium-ion batteries on the market
• Potential future perspectives and applications
• The largest sodium-ion battery manufacturers

Sodium-Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion battery technology has attracted lots of attention in recent years for several reasons:

Abundance of Sodium:

Sodium is abundant and widely available, making it a cost-effective and sustainable choice for battery production. Unlike lithium, which is a relatively scarce resource, sodium can be sourced more affordably.

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. It is widely distributed in various minerals, rocks, and natural resources. Common sources of sodium include sodium chloride (rock salt, sea salt), feldspar, and other minerals. The abundance of sodium makes it a relatively inexpensive and widely available material for various industrial applications.

Lower Cost of Sodium-Ion Batteries:

Since sodium is more abundant and less expensive than lithium, sodium-ion batteries have the potential to be more cost-effective. This could make energy storage solutions more accessible and affordable, especially on a large scale.

Sodium-ion technology could alleviate some of the supply-chain issues arising from limited resources of materials used in lithium-ion batteries.

Battery Materials:

Modern lithium-ion batteries still contain critical elements such as lithium (Li), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) in the cathode material. Additionally, graphite-based anodes need copper (Cu) current collectors, which is another expensive metal.

Sodium-ion batteries can operate with aluminum (Al) current collectors for both electrodes, anode and cathode. Some of the promising cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries are based solely on abundant metals (sodium, iron, manganese).

The abundance of different metals in the earth’s crust indicates how rare important metals for the lihtium-ion battery production are (e.g., Li, Ni, Co, Cu). Sodium-ion batteries can be manufactured with much more abundand metals (e.g., Na, Al, Fe, Mn) that are widely available wordlwide.

However, lithium-ion batteries can also be manufactured with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes that only need the metals lithium (Li) and iron (Fe), which only makes lithium the limiting resource.

(Read more about the components of batteries and their functions in this blog post.)

Sodium-Ion Battery Performance:

Researchers are still working to address challenges such as cycle life, energy density, and overall performance to make sodium-ion batteries a practical and competitive alternative to existing energy storage technologies.

The specific energy of sodium-ion batteries on the cell-level (120-150 Wh/kg) is still lower than that of lithium-ion batteries (up to 300 Wh/kg). This means that lithium-ion batteries are still preferable for lightweight applications and transportation. However, stationary energy storage applications such as BESS (battery energy storage systems) could consider sodium-ion technology due to its lower cost.

Comparison of Characteristics: Sodium-Ion vs. Lithium-Ion Battery

The comparison of sodium-ion battery and lithium-ion battery characteristics shows the advantages and disadvantages of both technologies:

Sodium-ion batteries score in terms of availability and abundance of raw materials, low cost, fast-charging. However, they lack in energy density, which also improves the safety aspect of sodium-ion batteries due to the lower amount of energy stored in the battery.

Lithium-ion batteries offer much higher energy densities than sodium-ion batteries. However, increasing cost and limitations in the supply-chain of raw materials is a growing concern for this technology.

Future Perspectives of Sodium-Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion batteries might find widespread adoption in regions where lithium is less abundant or more expensive. This could make them a key player in the global transition to cleaner energy sources and more affordable electric vehicles.

The market size of sodium-ion batteries was 11 Billion USD in 2022 and it is estimated to rapidly increase to 24 Billion USD by 2029. The global market size of the lithium-ion battery industry was 53 Billion USD in 2022 and could exceed 250 Billion USD by 2029. The rapid expansion of electric transportation is one of the main driving industries for lithium-ion technologies.

Compared to lithium-ion batteries, the sodium-ion battery production volume is still only a fraction of it. However, certain applications in the future might prefer the characterisitics of sodium-ion batteries over lithium-ion batteries.

(Read more about the market of lithium-ion batteries in this blog post.)

Grid Storage and Renewable Energy Integration

Sodium-ion batteries are being explored for grid-scale energy storage due to their potential cost advantages and safety features. As the demand for renewable energy sources increases, the ability to store and release energy efficiently becomes crucial, and sodium-ion batteries could play a role in this context.

Sodium-Ion Battery Manufacturing

Large battery manufacturers started the production of sodium-ion batteries in recent years. Here are some of the largest manufacturers worldwide and their sodium-ion battery technologies:

Europe Sodium-Ion Battery Production:

• Faradion Limited (UK): Current production-scale pouch cells deliver a specific energy of up to 160 Wh/kg with plans to increase up to 190 Wh/kg (prototype stage). The layered oxide cathode enables high energy density and competitive prices to lithium-ion batteries with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode.

• TIAMAT SAS (France): The french start-up is forcussed on cylindric and prismantic sodium-ion battery cell formats with fluorophosphate cathode (NVPF). This technology allows high operation voltage (3.7 V) and fast-charging and specific energies up to 160 Wh/kg. A gigafactory with 5 GWh volume is expected to start production by the end of 2025.

Asia Sodium-Ion Battery production:

• NGK Insulators Ltd. (Japan): Sodium-sulfur battery technology that is focussed on large scale (megawatt-level) battery energy storage systems (BESS). The thin ceramic sepatator is made of beta-alumina and the battery can be operated between 290-360°C at which both electrodes, sodium and sulfur are liquid. This sodium-ion technology is not made for fast-charging (power density: 36 W/kg) but it provides relatively high specific energy of up to 220 Wh/kg at 2 V working voltage.

• HiNa Battery Technology Co. Ltd. (China): Multi-composite layered oxide cathode material used in pouch cells and cylindric cells. The working voltage is 3.2 V with a specific energy of 145 Wh/kg and fast-charging capabilities. This battery technology was demonstrated in a small low-speed electric car in 2018.

• CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., China): The world’s biggest battery manufacturer launched their first generation sodium-ion battery with up to 160 Wh/kg in 2021. The sodium-ion technology of CATL is based on Prussion white cathode materials which offers the most inexpensive sodium-ion batteries on the market.
  
  The next generation sodium-ion battery is expected to exceed a specific energy of 200 Wh/kg, which could be achieved with a sodium metal anode. CATL’s sodium-ion battery production capacity in 2023 was 1.8 GWh and it is expected to reach more than 670 GWh by 2025. At such mass production volumes the cost of sodium-ion batteries could drop to 40 USD/kWh, which is less than half the cost of lihtium-ion batteries.
  
  CATL also works on battery management systems (BMS) that can mix and match sodium- and lithium-ion batteries in the battery pack to customize the performance for specific applications.

North America Sodium-Ion Battery Production:

• Natron Energy Inc. (USA): The US start-up Natron Energy was founded in 2012 and is based in California. Their sodium-ion batteries use Prussion blue anode and cathode materials that offer super fast-charging and very long battery cycle life (50,000 cycles). The pouch cell format with a relatively low specific energy of 70 Wh/kg is produced in a volume of 0.6 GWh annually since 2023.

Conclusion

Sodium-ion batteries have some interesting characteristics that could be of relevance on the battery market:

• Highly abundant raw materials
• Independence of critical metals
• Lower cost manufacturing than lithium-ion batteries
• High safety (lower energy density)
• Fast-charging capabilities

The main drawback of sodium-ion batteries is the lower energy density compared to lithium-ion batteries. This makes lithium-ion batteries still the preferred choice for applications where weight is critical (e.g., electric vehicles). However, stationary energy storage from alternative energy sources (wind, solar) could benefit from the lower cost and high safety of sodium-ion technology.

The market size of sodium-ion batteries is much smaller compared to lithium-ion batteries. However, both technologies will experience rapid growth in the near future and manufactureres are planning to expand their production volume rapidly.

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