Recently, the project team composed of China Southern Power Grid Guangxi Power Grid Co., Ltd., China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co., Ltd., Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other parties has made a major breakthrough, successfully solved the technical problems of sodium-ion batteries in large-scale energy storage, developed a long-life, wide temperature area, and high-safety sodium-ion energy storage battery, and developed the first large-capacity sodium-ion battery energy storage system in China, and the overall technology has reached the international leading level.
Compared with lithium batteries, sodium batteries have excellent high and low temperature performance and high safety performance. In addition, sodium resources are abundant and related raw materials are more readily available, and the cost of sodium-ion batteries can theoretically be reduced by about 30% compared with lithium iron phosphate batteries with similar performance.
At present, sodium batteries have begun to be gradually applied in the energy storage, electric two-wheeled vehicles and new energy vehicle markets.
Since 2023, the progress in the application of sodium batteries has accelerated significantly. A number of electric passenger car manufacturers such as Chery, Jiangling and JAC, as well as electric two-wheeler brands such as Yadea and Tailing, have successively launched products equipped with sodium batteries. At the same time, a number of MW-level projects in the field of energy storage have been successfully connected to the grid.
According to a report by market research agency SNEResearch, Continental's sodium-ion batteries are expected to officially enter mass production in 2025. By 2025, the domestic demand for sodium batteries is expected to reach 32.9GWh, corresponding to a market space of about 20.37 billion yuan.
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Overview of the sodium-ion battery industry
Electrochemical energy storage systems can be divided into lithium-ion battery energy storage, sodium-ion battery energy storage, flow battery energy storage and other types according to the type of battery pack, and each technical route has its own unique characteristics.
Sodium-ion batteries are highly similar to lithium batteries in terms of composition, working principle and production process.
Among them, sodium-ion batteries have significant advantages in terms of cost, and their main advantages lie in the use of cathode materials and current collectors.
According to data from Zhongke Haina, compared with lithium iron phosphate cathode materials, the cost of copper-based cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries has been reduced by nearly 60%. At the same time, because sodium and aluminum do not undergo alloying reactions, the current collector can completely replace copper foil with aluminum foil, thereby reducing costs by nearly 70%.
In the energy storage market, statistics from Starting Point Sodium Power show that since 2023, there have been 6 new energy storage projects involving sodium-ion energy storage in many places, with a total scale of more than 600MW/1200MWh.
In the long run, it is expected that large-scale industrial application will not be realized until 2025 because it will still take a long time for the industrial chain of sodium-ion batteries to be cultivated and realize the theoretical low cost.
Working diagram of sodium-ion battery:
Source: "Sodium-ion Battery Energy Storage Technology and Economic Analysis"
Sodium-ion battery industry chain combing
The core components of sodium-ion batteries include positive and negative electrodes, electrolytes and separators, and the current large-scale supply of positive and negative electrodes and electrolytes is still unstable.
Due to the limited reserves of lithium ore resources (only 0.0065%) and uneven distribution, the price has risen sharply. In contrast, sodium mineral resources are abundant (up to 2.75%), and their distribution is not limited by geography.
Diagram of sodium battery industry chain:
Source: Donghai Securities, Xingxingcha
The main changes in the sodium battery industry chain are reflected in the midstream link and cathode materials.
At present, the cathode material system of sodium-ion batteries is mainly divided into three technical routes: layered transition metal oxides, polyanion and Prussian blue.
Layered oxides are favored because of their good industrialization base, polyanionic compounds are known for their excellent cycling properties, but are limited by higher cost, lower energy density and rate performance, and Prussian blue/white compounds have advantages in cost and rate performance.
The anode, electrolyte, and separator of the industrial chain of sodium batteries basically maintain the existing competitive pattern, and the current collector no longer needs to use copper foil.
As the industrial system is still in the early stage of commercialization, the competitive landscape needs to be further observed, but the relevant leading enterprises have shown a first-mover advantage.
The competition pattern and leading combing of the sodium-ion battery industry
The domestic sodium-ion battery industry is accelerating in an all-round way. Since CATL launched its first sodium-ion battery in July 2021, the commercialization of the technology has received increasing attention. Leading companies such as Zhongke Haina, Chuanyi Technology, Zhongna Energy, and Peneng Technology have joined one after another.
In 2023, a number of companies have announced the application of sodium-ion batteries to the first model and work with partners to promote their implementation.
At present, about 20 companies have clear sodium-ion battery production capacity plans, and some of them have reached the GWh level of planned production capacity. It is expected that between 2024 and 2025, these companies will successively achieve mass production of sodium batteries. #钠离子电池 ##锂电池##汽车##新能源汽车##财经#
The main layout manufacturers of the sodium-ion battery industry chain are sorted out:
In the future, with the realization of mass production, the cost is expected to be further reduced, which is expected to promote the continuous expansion of the sodium electricity market.
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