In the context of energy conservation and emission reduction being promoted all over the world, energy storage has also become an indispensable part of the development of new energy. Due to the shortage of lithium resources, lithium batteries have experienced large price fluctuations, and the manufacturing process has been blocked by a few countries, and the supply chain crisis has gradually emerged. Sodium electricity industrial and commercial energy storage is regarded as an important breakthrough in the future development of new energy. So, can sodium electricity (sodium ion battery) solve the energy storage supply chain crisis in the field of industrial and commercial energy storage? We can conduct an in-depth analysis from the following aspects.
1. Supply Chain Problems of Lithium Battery Energy Storage
Currently, most industrial and commercial energy storage systems still use lithium battery technology. Although the technology is relatively mature and the capacity density is relatively high, its problems are gradually emerging:
- Resource scarcity: raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel are highly dependent on overseas imports and are easily affected by geopolitics and mineral policies;
- High prices: the price of lithium carbonate has soared by more than 300% in one year, bringing huge cost pressure to enterprises;
- Concentrated production capacity: key links such as positive electrodes, negative electrodes, and electrolytes are concentrated in a few regions, the global delivery cycle is lengthened, and the logistics cost is high;
- Overheated technology: The new energy vehicle industry has a high priority, and the phenomenon of "queueing" for lithium batteries for energy storage is frequent.
In this context, industrial and commercial users are in great need of a set of energy storage solutions with controllable costs, controllable delivery time, and low risks.
2. Changes Brought by Sodium Electricity
As a new energy storage battery technology in recent years, sodium electricity commercial energy storage has great potential and is expected to alleviate or even partially solve the supply chain crisis in the energy storage industry:
- The raw materials are widely available and do not rely on rare resources: Sodium is rich in reserves and widely distributed. It is widely present in seawater and the earth's crust and can be obtained by any country in the world. Commonly used positive and negative electrode materials for sodium electricity, such as Prussian blue and hard carbon, do not need to rely on rare and precious metals such as cobalt and nickel to avoid the risk of resource monopoly.
- Lower cost, conducive to the promotion of affordable energy storage: The lower cost of raw materials and manufacturing processes will help promote the energy storage system from "expensive use" to "popularization", especially for C&I scenarios such as small and medium-sized enterprises, parks, and factories.
- Compatible with lithium battery production lines and easy to switch on a large scale: The production process of sodium batteries is highly similar to that of lithium batteries. The existing lithium battery production lines can be switched with a little modification, which reduces the threshold for industrial switching and helps to quickly expand production capacity and alleviate supply and demand pressures.
- Suitable for diversified industrial and commercial application needs: Not only suitable for peak shaving and valley filling, backup power supply, but also can meet the deployment needs in low and high temperature environments, with strong flexibility.
3. Real Challenges and Limitations
Although sodium electricity commercial energy storage has natural advantages at the supply chain level, it still faces some real challenges:
- The energy density is slightly lower, and the energy storage capacity per unit volume/weight is still not as good as lithium battery;
- The technical maturity is not as good as lithium battery, especially in BMS and battery cell consistency;
- The industrial chain has not yet been fully formed, and large-scale application is still in the early stages;
- There are few brand choices and limited market awareness, especially in overseas markets.
4. Is Sodium Electricity a Substitute or a Supplement?
Since 2023, many leading companies at home and abroad have accelerated the layout of sodium electricity commercial energy storage. CATL launched the first generation of sodium-ion batteries and announced that it has industrialization capabilities; Zhongxin Aviation, Envision Power, Penghui Energy, etc. have successively launched sodium electricity energy storage products; production line transformation, standardized modules, and liquid cooling system matching are gradually being improved.
It is expected that by 2025, the market share of sodium batteries in the energy storage field will rise rapidly, and it is expected to occupy more than 10% of the energy storage battery market, becoming an important supplement to lithium batteries.
5. Sodium Batteries are Not a Substitute, But a Game-Changer
Sodium batteries cannot completely replace lithium batteries, but they can become a powerful supplement to lithium batteries during periods of tight supply chains, especially in the field of industrial and commercial energy storage, and have obvious strategic value.
At a time when lithium resources are tight and prices are high, the industrialization of sodium batteries will bring a strategic supplement to the global energy storage industry, helping companies to more flexibly respond to raw material fluctuations, reduce project costs, and shorten delivery cycles.
In the future, with the improvement of technology and the expansion of scale, sodium batteries are expected to play an increasingly important role in industrial and commercial energy storage systems at the 50kWh–500kWh level.
