Ningde era "big bet" sodium ion battery to build a "low price barrier", the sword refers to the field of energy storage

On July 29, the sodium ion battery, which attracted much attention from the industry, finally lifted the veil of secrecy.

On that day, Ningde Times announced that the energy density of the cell of the first-generation sodium ion battery developed by the company has reached 160 Whhand kg; the charge can reach 80% after charging at room temperature for 15 minutes; and at a low temperature of-20 ℃, there is still more than 90% retention of Discharge; at the same time, the system integration efficiency can also reach more than 80%.

"the energy density research and development goal of the next generation sodium ion battery is above 200Wh/kg." Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Ningde Times, said. At the same time, according to Huang Qisen, vice president of Ningde time Research Institute, Ningde era has begun the industrial layout of sodium ion batteries, and plans to form a basic industrial chain in 2023.

Find another way only for the field of card energy storage?

In terms of system innovation, Ningde Times has developed a "AB battery system" solution, that is, sodium-ion battery and lithium-ion battery are mixed and integrated into the same battery system according to a certain proportion, and the balanced control of different battery systems is carried out by BMS algorithm.

Ningde Times official said that the "AB battery system" solution not only makes up for the deficiency of energy density of sodium ion battery at this stage, but also gives play to its advantages of high power and good performance at low temperature. Based on this system structure, more application scenarios can be developed for lithium-sodium battery system.

"the power battery was the earliest card in the development of Ningde era, and now we hope to use the sodium battery as the earliest card position energy storage battery." In the view of Bai Yiyang of the International Research Department of China Merchants Bank, the biggest reason for the layout of sodium-ion batteries is not the lack of lithium resources. "at present, the cost reduction path of lithium batteries does not meet the demand for energy storage, and sodium batteries will not affect the electric vehicle industry on a large scale. Ningde wants to use sodium batteries to continue the field of energy storage. "

Prior to this, CITIC Securities, Guotai Junan and Huajin Securities reported that they were optimistic about the application of sodium ion batteries in energy storage. it is believed that this technology is expected to be commercialized in scenarios with low energy density, such as energy storage, construction machinery, communication base stations and two-wheelers, and complement mature energy storage technologies such as lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries.

Data show that sodium ion battery (Sodium-ion battery), is a kind of secondary battery (rechargeable battery), which mainly depends on the movement of sodium ion between the positive and negative electrodes, which is similar to the working principle of lithium ion battery. Compared with 0.0065% of the crustal abundance of lithium resources, the crustal abundance of sodium resources is as high as 2.5%, and it is more evenly distributed around the world, and short-term prices are less affected by market demand.

However, sodium ion batteries also have the problem of relatively low energy density. Some data show that the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery, ternary battery, sodium ion battery and sodium ion battery can reach 200W / kg / kg, 240 / kg / kg and 100-150 / kg, respectively, which determines the limitation of its application scenario.

The power battery still has a lot of room for imagination.

"in the context of widespread anxiety about lithium materials, sodium-ion batteries will be a useful supplement to lithium batteries." Zhong Ke Hai Na CEO Tang Yi believes that the manufacturing process of sodium ion battery from material to battery is similar to that of lithium battery, and there are many manufacturing experiences that can be used for reference. At the same time, compared with lithium battery, sodium ion battery has more safety advantages, and its runaway temperature is higher than that of lithium battery. On the other hand, because it does not use graphite as the negative electrode, the charge and discharge speed of sodium ion battery is much faster than that of lithium battery, and it can charge and discharge stably at high temperature and low temperature, which is significantly better than lithium iron phosphate battery. At the same time, it can tie with lithium iron phosphate in cycle.

It is worth noting that at present, ternary lithium battery and lithium iron phosphate battery are the two main technical routes of vehicle power battery. Data show that from January to June, the cumulative sales of power batteries in China reached 58.2 GWH, an increase of 173.6% over the same period last year. Of these, the cumulative sales of ternary batteries were 27.2GWh, an increase of 115.6 percent over the same period last year, and the cumulative sales of lithium iron phosphate batteries were 30.8GWh, an increase of 260.0 percent over the same period last year.

Under the lithium halo, is there still a chance for sodium ion batteries in the field of power batteries?

"because it is still in the initial stage of development, for companies that start to invest in the sodium battery industry now, they are more likely to enjoy the benefits brought by the tuyere." Some industry insiders believe that sodium ion batteries will help Ningde era to establish a stronger "low price barrier" within 3-5 years, but the capital market needs a phased product to carry more imagination. "if sodium ion battery products are only suitable for energy storage, it will be difficult to open a new imagination space in the capital market."

The growth rate of energy storage system in Ningde era is much faster than that of power batteries. According to the financial report, in 2020, the revenue of the energy storage system reached 1.943 billion yuan, an increase of 218.52 percent over the same period last year, while the revenue of the power battery business reached 39.426 billion yuan, an increase of only 2.18 percent over the same period last year.

"although the difference in revenue is nearly 20 times, the growth gap of nearly 100 times still gives the capital market a lot of room to imagine." The insider said that it is clear that sodium-ion batteries will not pose a fatal threat to the loading of lithium batteries, and if the replacement of lead-acid batteries and the market space in the energy storage business are taken into account, sodium-ion batteries still have trillions of market prospects. "combined with the product characteristics of low cost, strong stability and relatively weak battery life, a large number of low-speed electric vehicles will choose Ningde era sodium ion battery as the power source and enter the market."