The sodium battery industry “met with cold” in the beginning of the year, with leading enterprises forging ahead against the trend.

"At present, the sharp decline in lithium carbonate prices has weakened the cost advantage of sodium-ion batteries, causing the company to delay the progress of commercial production of sodium-ion batteries." Recently, Duoduoa also emphasized during investor research that the company's research and cost reduction efforts are still actively ongoing. The cost advantage that sodium batteries used to be proud of has not had the chance to turn from "ideal to reality" due to the incomplete industrial chain. Instead, lithium carbonate prices have plummeted from around 60,000 yuan per ton to around 10,000 yuan per ton, and lithium battery prices have been slashed in half in 2023, making the cost advantage of sodium batteries no longer prominent. Regarding the development of the sodium-ion battery industry, Xia Gang, Chairman of Zhongna Energy, recently stated that sodium-ion batteries are a multi-billion-dollar long-term competitive field with challenging obstacles to overcome. Sodium-ion battery companies must maintain confidence during periods of fluctuations, anticipate difficulties during industrial challenges, and work together in competitive differentiation. Sodium batteries, with abundant sodium resources, potential cost advantages, good low-temperature characteristics, safety characteristics, and rate characteristics, are considered one of the most promising battery technology routes. Against the backdrop of the surge in lithium carbonate prices in 2022, sodium batteries have attracted widespread attention from capital, enterprises, and governments. At that time, sodium battery technology flourished, sodium battery production capacity began, sodium battery companies multiplied, and the enthusiasm was unmatched. While capital has cooled off, the industry is still pushing forward earnestly. Since the beginning of the year, sodium batteries have been facing challenges. On the one hand, the plunge in lithium carbonate prices has made it difficult for sodium batteries to achieve their cost advantage in the short term, affecting the enthusiasm of participating companies. On the other hand, the unclear technical route and the slower industrialization process have led to most companies remaining in the research, pilot or small-scale production stages, without forming economies of scale to compete with lead-acid and lithium batteries. Currently, participating companies in the sodium battery industry are still in a state of intense competition in terms of sodium battery technology routes, and the investment in the industry chain is relatively scattered, leading to immaturity in support on one hand and a lack of economies of scale on the other. In fact, according to Battery China observations, due to the impact of the decline in lithium carbonate prices, many early-stage "players" who hoped to make a difference in the sodium battery field and planned to cross over have already withdrawn early. Additionally, the reduced attention from the capital market has also affected many startups that planned to enter the sodium battery field through financing support. However, for battery companies with professional backgrounds, laying out sodium batteries is still a trend. This is mainly due to the advantages of sodium batteries in resources, costs, low-temperature performance, over-discharge performance, safety performance, and rate performance. In the future, sodium batteries will still be one of the important technological routes in the fields of power and energy storage. Although most sodium battery companies have slowed down in the industrialization process, technological advancement and cost reduction strategies are still actively being pursued. Zhongke Hainan predicts that the energy density and production cost of sodium-ion batteries will be comparable to lithium iron phosphate by 2025. Based on the core premise of low cost for the large-scale application of sodium batteries, it is expected that sodium batteries will enter a period of rapid development in 2026. Top companies are making efforts, and sodium batteries are still highly valued. Unlike the cooling of the capital market and cross-border companies, leading battery companies continue to rapidly deploy sodium batteries, especially in the fields of electric two-wheelers, micro electric vehicles, and energy storage, accelerating industrial replacement. Recently, Zhang Jian, product line director of Fudi Battery, stated that it is expected that BYD will achieve a comprehensive application scenario for large cylindrical sodium-ion battery electric two-wheelers in Shenzhen in June, realizing integration of vehicles, cabinets, and intelligent electricity. In terms of energy density, Fudi Battery will produce sodium batteries with an energy density of 105Wh/kg this year, with a long-term goal of over 130Wh/kg. In January of this year, BYD's sodium-ion battery project in Xuzhou started construction with a total investment of 10 billion yuan, mainly producing sodium-ion battery cells and related supporting products such as PACK, with a planned annual capacity of 30GWh. In addition, Fudi Battery's 150Ah blade sodium battery cell has passed the pilot phase and can be produced on a large scale. A 20MWh sodium battery cube energy storage system has been tested in the company's Nanning industrial park. In the electric two-wheeler market, in addition to BYD, Huayu New Energy has started to cooperate with Yadi, realizing the application of sodium batteries in electric two-wheelers. Aima, Xinri, and others have also collaborated with Zhongna Energy to launch sodium-ion electric two-wheelers. Moreover, Fujian Mengshi, Qingna Technology, and others have also matched electric two-wheelers and tricycles with customers. Industry forecasts predict that sodium batteries in the electric two-wheeler field have promising prospects for replacing lead-acid batteries and will become one of the main application scenarios for sodium batteries in the future. In the electric vehicle sector, industry data shows that in the first quarter of this year, approximately 0.7MWh of sodium-ion batteries were installed. In fact, as early as 2021, CATL had announced the launch of the first generation of sodium-ion batteries with a single-cell energy density of 160Wh/kg, which still maintained over 90% discharge retention rate at -20°C. In April last year, CATL officially announced the compatibility of sodium-ion batteries with Chery models. Funeng Technology's sodium-ion battery was also successfully installed in the electric vehicle sector at the end of 2023. The company plans to launch the second generation of sodium battery products this year, with improved performance. In February of this year, Lishen Battery released the second generation of sodium-ion batteries, with a cell energy density of 160Wh/kg, a 10% increase from the first generation. It can achieve a discharge capacity retention rate of over 80% at -40℃, and can achieve 5C fast charging, reaching 80% charge in 12 minutes. The target is to apply them in electric bicycles, A00 electric vehicles, large-scale energy storage, and other fields. Lishen Battery revealed that the company has carried out different system iterations of sodium-ion batteries based on application scenarios. Among them, the first three generations of sodium-ion batteries used a layered oxide and hard carbon system, while the fourth generation continued with the layered oxide route and built a system without a negative electrode. In the future, Lishen will continue to develop solid-state sodium metal batteries with an energy density exceeding 220Wh/kg. In the energy storage field, several companies have already begun to apply sodium batteries for energy storage. In July last year, Guangzhou Penghui Energy successfully applied sodium-ion battery cells in a large-scale northern energy storage station project located in the Qingdao North Data Center, with a capacity of 5MW/10MWh. Pai Energy Technology recently revealed that the company's sodium-ion battery products will transition from pilot to mass production this year, and sodium battery energy storage system products will achieve demonstration at the MWh level. The "sodium replacing lead" business module will achieve mass shipments at the level of hundreds of MWh. From hot to cold, the recent fluctuations in carbon dioxide lithium prices have had a significant impact, especially now that lithium carbonate prices have fallen back to around 10,000 yuan per ton. Many sodium battery projects have slowed down or stagnated over the past year, leading to a delay in industrialization. It can be seen that for sodium batteries to truly achieve industrialization, cost reduction will remain a key focus for the future industry. Through technological innovation and building a complete industrial chain for scale production, cost reduction will likely be a major direction. It is worth noting that the technical trends and market potential of sodium batteries have gradually been verified over the past two years, proving that there is ample market space as an important supplement to lithium batteries. Leading battery companies continue to deepen their sodium battery technical routes, showing great optimism for its market prospects, and believing that with continued investment from the industry, sodium batteries are expected to truly usher in a bright future.