[SMM Analysis] BYD Launches Sodium-Ion Grid-Level Energy Storage System Product

Chinese EV giant BYD has launched what it claims to be the "world's first high-performance" sodium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) product, utilizing its proprietary long blade battery cells.

BYD Energy Storage UK and Ireland head Kai Wang announced on the business social platform LinkedIn that the company has launched the "MC Cube-SIB ESS" product.

He stated that the product uses BYD's long blade battery cells and features a "CTS super integration design," making it the world's first high-performance sodium-ion battery energy storage system. He claimed that the system boasts ultra-high energy density, excellent safety standards, and a flexible modular design.

The energy storage capacity of the system is 2.3MWh, with a nominal voltage of 1,200V and a voltage range of 800V-1,400V.

Kai Wang discussed the advantages of sodium-ion batteries: "The first advantage is the natural abundance of sodium, which theoretically makes its manufacturing cost lower than that of lithium-ion batteries. Additionally, sodium-ion batteries have higher charge/discharge rates, a wider operating temperature range, longer cycle life, and higher safety."

The natural abundance of sodium and better fire safety characteristics are the main reasons many consider sodium-ion batteries as substitutes for lithium-ion batteries, as the supply chain shocks of lithium-ion batteries in 2021 and 2022 and the relatively rare but high-profile fire incidents posed significant challenges to the energy storage industry.

Most people believe that due to the lower material costs of sodium-ion batteries, their costs should also be lower than lithium-ion batteries once manufacturing scales up.

However, the energy density of sodium-ion batteries is much lower. For example, BYD's new product only packs 2.3MWh per 20-foot container, far below the current standard of 5MWh or even higher for lithium-ion battery energy storage systems. Nonetheless, this issue is less severe in the energy storage system field than in the EV field, although some EVs in China also use sodium-ion batteries.

Chinese companies have invested heavily in sodium-ion technology, and the world's largest energy storage system using sodium-ion technology is also located in China, with a scale of 100MW/200MWh, half of which was put into use this summer. One of the technology providers for this project is the China-based HiNa Battery company.

In January this year, BYD began constructing a 30GWh sodium-ion battery factory in Xuzhou, China. BYD is the world's largest EV company and has expanded its lithium-ion battery cell and energy storage system production business over the years, becoming one of the largest companies in this field.

The US is also advancing sodium-ion technology. Last week (November 21), the US Department of Energy (DOE) allocated $50 million to establish the "Low-Cost Earth Abundant Sodium-Ion Storage (LENS) Consortium," aiming to develop high-energy, long-lasting sodium-ion battery technology.