Spotlight: Multiple Companies Reveal Latest Progress in Solid-State Battery Business, Emerging Consumer Electronics Sector Offers New Room for Demand Growth

The 2024 STAR Market Battery Industry Collective Performance Briefing was held on the afternoon of May 15, with seven companies in attendance: Hangke Technology, XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen), ST Power, Farasis Energy, ST Yifei, Sino-Power, and SinoHytec.

A reporter from the STAR Market Daily participated in the event online via the Shanghai Stock Exchange Roadshow Center and posed questions regarding the market demand and competitive landscape of the lithium battery industry, as well as the technological roadmaps and R&D progress of sodium-ion batteries and solid-state batteries, which are of concern to investors.

Different development trends in battery sub-sectors

The STAR Market Daily reporter observed that, with the further deepening of end-use market demand in the new energy sector, there have been new developments in various sub-sectors, including lithium batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells based on different materials, as well as semi-solid-state batteries and solid-state batteries based on different processes. Meanwhile, different types of batteries have different development statuses and trends.

As a system integrator of complete production equipment for the formation and grading of new energy lithium batteries, Hangke Technology stated in its 2024 annual report that over the past year, the growth rate of market demand for lithium-ion batteries has slowed down, competition in the lithium battery equipment manufacturing industry has intensified, and the acceptance cycle for battery producers has been extended.

Regarding the market demand in the lithium battery sub-sector, Yu Pingguang, Director and General Manager of Hangke Technology, responded to a question from the STAR Market Daily reporter, saying, "In the first quarter of this year, with the continued recovery of the global NEV industry and the rapid rise of the ESS market, global demand for lithium batteries has shown a growth trend since 2025."

Zhang Guoqiang, Chairman and General Manager of SinoHytec, a system integrator for the R&D and industrialisation of hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cells, stated, "Currently, the market for the fuel cell vehicle industry has not yet achieved economies of scale due to its early stage of commercialisation, resulting in high overall costs. The industry's development is highly dependent on policies."

"Meanwhile, from the perspective of application scenarios, the application scenarios for fuel cell vehicles in China have transitioned from the initial commercial demonstration applications in the public transportation sector to multi-scenario demonstration applications in public transportation, sanitation, urban logistics distribution, cold chain transportation, muck transportation, bulk cargo transportation, and other areas." Zhang Guoqiang said, "With the large-scale application of fuel cell vehicles at the Winter Olympics and the impact of domestic policies for fuel cell vehicle demonstration city clusters, fuel cell vehicles will usher in new development momentum."

Dong Ligang, General Manager of Farasis Energy, a producer of pouch power and ESS batteries, stated that from an industry perspective, the key to the mass production of sodium-ion batteries depends on the extent of cost reduction in the industry chain and the maturity of technological solutions. In the long run, due to their inherent advantages in cycle life, low-temperature performance, and safety, sodium-ion batteries are expected to achieve commercial breakthroughs in specific application scenarios, including commercial vehicles.

Notably, an investor asked ST Power whether it believed there was a competitive relationship between sodium-ion batteries and lithium batteries. Zhang Bao, Chairman, General Manager, and Chief Scientist of ST Power, responded that the company believes there is a competitive relationship between sodium-ion batteries and lithium batteries, but they primarily follow a complementary development model, each with its own important application fields and scenarios.

Zhang Bao stated that since 2024, with the implementation and scaling up of end-use applications such as energy storage systems (ESS), small power, and construction machinery, the cost of sodium-ion batteries has been continuously declining. "According to our understanding from downstream customers, the cost per watt-hour of the layered oxide route has gradually approached that of lithium iron phosphate (LFP). Meanwhile, there is still room for further cost reduction in terms of materials and processes, and sodium-ion batteries already have cost advantages in some application fields. It is expected that this year, the battery cell cost of sodium-ion batteries will partially overlap with that of LFP battery cells, and next year, they will be basically flat. In the future, their cost advantages are expected to gradually become prominent. "

Zhang Bao further stated that, based on industry information, top-tier enterprises in the lithium battery industry have successively launched multiple sodium-ion batteries. The latest sodium-ion battery has achieved an energy density breakthrough of 200Wh/kg, approaching the level of LFP, and can be charged to 80% in 15 minutes with fast charging. Meanwhile, it is expected that sodium-ion batteries have the potential to replace nearly 50% of the market share of LFP in the future, indicating a broad development prospect for sodium-ion batteries.

Yang Jinhong, Chairman of XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen), a new energy material producer, stated that from the perspective of end-use demand for new materials, different industries currently have distinct demand characteristics. Among them, the 3C consumer market is in a stable development phase, with rapid growth in emerging consumer electronics such as wearable devices and AR/VR, providing new demand growth space for cathode materials. In the NEV market, new energy vehicles are still in a rapid development stage, and the cathode materials for power batteries continue to maintain a growth trend.

Yang Jinhong stated that in the ESS market, with the development of wind power and PV new energy, ESS is becoming a "standard configuration" and will become an important pillar of the new-type power system. In the hydrogen energy sector, hydrogen storage alloys have entered a mature stage, with a relatively high market concentration, and industry leading enterprises are expected to secure stable market shares.

Several battery enterprises have disclosed their latest business progress.

Zhang Bao, Chairman, General Manager, and Chief Scientist of ST Power, a producer of precursors for ternary cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, stated in response to a question from a reporter from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the company has currently completed the pilot and intermediate-scale tests of multi-component wet-doped precursors. Among them, high-voltage lithium-rich manganese-based precursors for solid-state batteries have been sent in kilogram quantities to mainstream customers for verification. The company is also focusing on advancing the R&D of oxide-based all-solid-state electrolytes, and has successfully completed small-scale trials of multiple materials, which will be sent to battery terminal manufacturers for product verification.

"In addition, the company's sodium-ion battery precursor products are mainly applied in the ESS, small power, and engineering machinery sectors, with the ESS sector being the dominant demand driver for sodium-ion batteries in 2024. The company currently has a sodium-ion battery precursor production capacity of 7,500 mt, and its existing ternary cathode precursor production capacity can be quickly converted to meet the rapidly increasing demand in the sodium-ion battery industry," added Zhang Bao.

Dong Ligang, General Manager of Farasis Energy, a producer of pouch power and ESS batteries, stated that solid-state batteries represent the ultimate solution in the power battery sector, and that pouch packaging is the optimal encapsulation form for solid-state batteries. "In terms of semi-solid-state batteries, the company will promote the mass production of the second-generation semi-solid-state batteries with an energy density of 330Wh/kg in 2025, and accelerate the R&D of all-solid-state batteries based on multiple technical routes, including sulphide, oxide/polymer composite systems."

Dong Ligang also introduced Farasis Energy's progress in customer expansion: The company's SPS large pouch products have secured project approvals from multiple customers, including GAC, Geely, and JMC. Currently, some production lines of the SPS capacity in Ganzhou New Energy and Guangzhou have commenced operation, with the capacity utilization rate steadily increasing. Regarding humanoid robots, Farasis Energy is currently engaging with 5-6 well-known domestic leading humanoid robot customers to align project requirements, including several leading automotive humanoid robot customers. It is expected that multiple projects will achieve sample delivery this year.

Yang Jinhong, Chairman of XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen), stated that in terms of cathode lithium supplementation materials, the company has completed the development of highly stable lithium supplementation materials and achieved mass supply. Based on continuously improving the cost-effective process for preparing lithium sulphide, the company is preparing to gradually promote it to domestic and overseas customers and, in line with the industrialisation progress of solid-state batteries, simultaneously advance the construction of lithium sulphide production capacity

. Wu Xuan, Chairman and General Manager of ST Yifei, a developer of intelligent equipment for precision laser processing, stated that the company has recently launched new products and technologies, including an intelligent laser system, a new-generation sealing nail high-speed assembly station, and a new-generation high-speed helium leak detector

. Chen Hu, Financial Director of Sinyu Ren, a manufacturer of lithium battery production equipment and its key parts, stated that the company has successfully trial-produced a dry electrode prototype, which is currently undergoing debugging and technical verification. In terms of solid-state electrolyte materials, we will accelerate the preparation for the establishment of a solid-state battery laboratory, advance the R&D of halide solid-state electrolytes, and strive to achieve productization as soon as possible.