In order to deeply discuss the challenges and opportunities in the industrialization process of sodium-ion batteries, the "Prospective Industry Technology Insight Exchange Meeting" with the title of "Bottlenecks and Challenges of Mass Production of Sodium-ion Batteries" jointly sponsored by the Prospective Industry Research Institute and the Shenzhen Research Institute of Central South University was successfully held in the Shenzhen General Institute of the Prospective Industry Research Institute on October 18. Chen Like (Chairman), President Xu Wenqiang (Foreign Academician of the Russia Academy of Engineering, Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley), Tang Yougen, Professor of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Central South University, Gao Jinqiang, Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Jingong Energy Co., Ltd., Ding Jianchun, Director of Guangdong Junlong Law Firm, and top experts, local government representatives, well-known business leaders and other partners from the Greater Bay Area gathered together to discuss the future of sodium electricity.
In the context of global energy transition, sodium-ion batteries are regarded as an important supplement to lithium-ion batteries due to their abundant resources and low cost, and have broad market prospects. At present, sodium-ion batteries have achieved small-scale production and demonstration applications in specific scenarios around the world, with the global market size reaching $320 million in 2023 and is expected to approach $1 billion by 2030. Since 2018, the sodium-ion battery industry has gradually developed into one of the focuses of the mainland capital market, and venture capital and financing activities have continued to be active, with the number of investment and financing events rising from three in 2018 to 56 in 2023. However, sodium-ion batteries still face bottlenecks such as short cycle life, difficult material research and development, and cost control in the mass production process. This seminar aims to provide new ideas and solutions for breaking through these bottlenecks through the exchange of ideas and resource links.
At the meeting, Xu Wenqiang, President of the Prospective Industry Research Institute and Foreign Academician of the Russia Academy of Engineering, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Challenges and Future of Large-scale Mass Production of Sodium-ion Batteries". He pointed out that sodium batteries (SIB), which have a wider range of applications in low-temperature environments and more environmentally friendly raw materials and production processes, may be a key complement to China's "3060" strategy. However, the main bottleneck facing the current SIB industrialization is that the energy density is "stuck in the neck" and the cost advantage has not yet been fully reflected. In addition, it is necessary to pay full attention to the application of AI in materials science, and how to accelerate the research and development of new materials through big data and machine learning, so as to provide a new way to improve the performance and reduce the cost of SIB.
Gao Jinqiang, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Jingong Energy Co., Ltd., shared the research results of "Basic Research and Industrialization R&D of Cathode Materials for Sodium-ion Batteries", he introduced in detail the three main cathode materials of sodium-ion batteries, including layered oxides, Prussian blue materials and polyanionic materials, including their structure and performance, optimization strategies and industrial applications, emphasizing that although sodium-ion batteries still face challenges in terms of high energy density and long cycle life, their huge market demand and wide application prospects, It indicates that it will play an important role in the field of energy storage in the future.
Tang Yougen, a professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Central South University, focused on the research and industrialization of hard carbon anode materials for sodium-ion batteries, and discussed the possibility of anode material innovation. He pointed out that sodium-ion batteries have obvious advantages in terms of resources, cost and safety, and have broad application prospects and huge markets. Cheap biomass-based hard carbon has good application prospects. The hard carbon anode of sodium-ion battery has been in the early stage of industrialization, and with the continuous expansion of the application scenarios of sodium-ion batteries, the hard carbon anode will begin to be supplied in large quantities, and a variety of specifications to meet the needs of different applications will appear.
Ding Jianchun, director of Guangdong Junlong Law Firm, conducted an in-depth analysis of the "Global Layout of Sodium-ion Battery Patents", comprehensively analyzed the global layout of sodium-ion battery patents, and revealed the key information such as the patent development trend of sodium-ion battery technology, the distribution of technology sources, and the main applicant countries and enterprises. For example, China has surpassed United States and Japan in patent filings since 2015 to become the world's largest patent filer for sodium-ion batteries. In addition, the importance of high-value patent layout is emphasized, and valuable advice on patent layout and drafting is provided to enterprises through case analysis and writing examples.
In the free exchange session, the guests had a heated discussion on hot topics such as technical problems, application scenario expansion, material innovation, cost control and international cooperation of sodium-ion batteries, and believed that the mass production process of sodium-ion batteries needs to overcome challenges in technology, materials, costs and other aspects. With the continuous progress of technology and the gradual reduction of costs, sodium-ion batteries are expected to occupy a place in the new energy market in the future.
The most eye-catching thing is that as a technology-based decision-making think tank that understands the industry better, the Prospective Industry Research Institute released the "2024 China Sodium-ion Battery Report - Improving Quality and Reducing Costs, Exploring the New Future of Sodium Leadership" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") for the first time at the meeting, which conducted a comprehensive and in-depth analysis from multiple dimensions such as basic technology, material research and development, industrialization path to market prospects, and provided detailed and authoritative reference and insights for people inside and outside the industry.
The report pointed out that in view of the challenges of sodium-ion batteries in terms of preparation cost, battery performance, material supply, etc., the most important coping strategy is to rely on national innovation platforms, industrial chain enterprises, universities and institutes, vehicle enterprises, etc., to achieve a breakthrough in technology research and development bottlenecks, the key lies in the research and development innovation of positive and negative electrode materials and electrolytes, as well as the optimization of production processes.
In the short term, sodium-ion batteries cannot realize the subversive replacement of lithium batteries for the time being, and are more of a replacement and supplement in specific application scenarios with low energy density requirements such as power grid/household energy storage, data center UPS, special/public electric vehicles, and medium-range household electric vehicles, and the size of the market application scale is greatly affected by lithium carbonate price fluctuations. In the long run, if the research and development of sodium battery technology can achieve technical bottlenecks in performance and cost, and even achieve corner overtaking in the solid-state field, the substitution role of sodium battery for lithium battery may become stronger and stronger in the future.
From the breakthrough of basic technology to the innovative research and development of materials, and then to the specific path of industrialization and the prospect of market prospects, this report presents readers with a panorama of the development of the sodium-ion battery industry.
At the same time, at this exchange meeting, the Prospective Industry Research Institute also launched the "Seven "Top Ten" List of China's Sodium-ion Battery Industry, and selected the industry leaders from multiple dimensions such as industrialization progress, market value scale, and business relevance. These rankings not only provide authoritative market analysis and the competitive landscape for the industry, but also provide investors and policymakers with comprehensive guidance on market trends.
The "Forward-looking Industry Technology Insight Exchange Meeting" not only provided a high-end platform for industry experts to exchange ideas and share results, but also injected new impetus into the rapid development and industrialization process of sodium-ion battery technology. Looking to the future, with the growing global demand for renewable energy and continuous technological innovation, sodium-ion batteries will play a more important role in the field of new energy.
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Prospective Economist APP Information Group
For more research and analysis of this industry, please refer to the "2024 China Sodium-ion Battery Report - Improving Quality and Reducing Costs, Exploring the New Future of Sodium" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
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