The industrialization of sodium batteries is accelerating

Many industry insiders said that the industrialization process of sodium battery has accelerated significantly recently, 2023 or the first year of mass production of the industry.

Sodium battery cathode material mass production accelerated

Jiangsu Xiangying said its annual output of 3,000 tons of layered oxide cathode material for sodium batteries was put into production on Sept. 1 and mass deliveries began in mid-September. At present, the company has sent samples and shipped to 130 units, with a shipment of about 10 tons. Product processing performance, cycle performance, suppression of gas performance is excellent, high cost performance.

Jiangsu Xiangying was established in 2016 and is located in Liyang, Jiangsu Province. At present, the production capacity of sodium battery cathode material is 3,000 tons/year, and that of lithium battery ternary cathode material is 10,000 tons/year. The company has 7 invention patents, including 2 core patents of sodium battery cathode materials. Jiangsu Xiangying largest shareholder Suzhou Jiangnan Jiajie Elevator Co., Ltd. and the capital market had a history.

Suzhou Jiangnan Jiajie Elevator Co., LTD. (” Jiangnan Jiajie “for short) used to be a listed company. In 2017, Three sixty backdoor Jiangnan Jiajie listed, the assets were subsequently placed out of the listed company. Later, Suzhou Jiangnan Jiajie Elevator Co., Ltd. acquired Jiangsu Xiangying, which was actually owned by the owner, and this led to the lithium battery business.

Chairman and general manager of Jiangsu Xiangying told reporters that the performance of each batch of sodium battery cathode material mass production line is very stable, and the customer feedback is good, and the stable supply agreement has been signed. Among them, the supply of ton-level two, are consumer electronics customers; There are 10 companies that supply more than 500 kilograms.

It is revealed that Jiangsu Xiangying sodium battery cathode material monthly output of about 100 tons. The main reason for the lack of production is that the market demand has not risen. Experts who have studied sodium batteries for many years say that Jiangsu Xiangying is the earliest enterprise in China to produce a batch of sodium battery cathode materials, and the product level is more advanced, which has promoted the industrialization process of the industry.

Sodium batteries get a chance to replace lithium batteries

Lithium batteries with excellent performance have always dominated the battery system, but since the middle of 2021, the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has soared by 4 times to 500,000 RMB/ ton, the cost of lithium batteries has risen significantly, and the industrial chain is suffering. Downstream automobile enterprises are Mired in the predicament of losing money. The search for alternatives is urgent, and sodium batteries are the current choice. For more information, you can see the lithium vs sodium battery article.

Sodium is abundant and evenly distributed on Earth, making future supply chains more secure. Sodium batteries work on the same principle as lithium batteries, which can fully supplement the lithium iron deficiency, but the pain points are cycle performance and energy density. Experts believe that sodium batteries have advantages in low cost, high safety and long life, and can be used as a replacement or supplement for lithium batteries.

In 2020, the country promoted lithium batteries to replace lead-acid batteries, which have environmental defects, according to Jiangsu Xiangying. But work has all but stalled after the high price of lithium-ion batteries. In the future, sodium batteries may replace lead-acid batteries. The application scenarios are mainly mature two-wheeled electric vehicles and rising energy storage markets, among which the market scale of two-wheeled electric vehicles alone is hundreds of billions RMB. The national standard of sodium ion industry is about to be formulated and is expected to be launched in the middle of next year. The standard will accelerate the mass production of the industry.

Industry leading companies layout

Under the high price of lithium electricity, the industry’s leading companies are preparing to launch sodium battery products. Due to rapid technological progress, sodium battery industrialization is expected to be advanced from the end of next year to the first half of next year.

Huayang shares and Zhongke Sea Sodium jointly develop sodium batteries. Beijing Zhongkehai Sodium Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongkehai Sodium) is an industry pioneer. Founded in 2017, it is one of the few high-tech enterprises focusing on the research and development and manufacturing of sodium batteries in the world.

In addition, Huayang Shares also reached cooperation with electrolyte raw material supplier Polyfluoride, including: sodium hexafluorophosphate and sodium battery cooperation project, electrolyte additives, anode materials and other fields of cooperation.

In May this year, one of the top 10 sodium ion battery manufacturers in China CATL said in the interactive platform, the company will release the sodium battery in 2021, the energy density of the cell is up to 160Wh/kg, charging 15 minutes at room temperature, the power can reach more than 80%. The company is committed to promoting the industrialization of sodium batteries in 2023.

In addition, one of the top 5 sodium-ion cathode companies Ronbay, Zhenhua New Materials, BTR, Kaijin Energy and other leading battery material manufacturers have entered into the research and development of sodium batteries from their own perspectives. Jiangsu Xiangying revealed that from the progress of each sodium battery project, it is expected that the first and second quarter of next year, sodium battery is expected to achieve industrialization.