Since this year, sodium ion batteries have emerged, providing more power options for the further development of new energy industry.
On April 19, Hunan cube New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and Hunan Nanfang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. released new sodium ion battery products. According to the official data, the power of the product can reach more than 80% after charging for 15 minutes at room temperature, and the retention rate of 3C discharge capacity can reach 88%- 20 under low temperature environment, it can still release more than 88% of the capacity and realize 0.1C low-temperature charging under this environment.
Since this year, several companies including Huawei and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) have laid out sodium ion battery tracks Bank Of China Limited(601988) Research Institute researcher Wang Meiting told Securities Daily: “due to the limited short-term supply increment of lithium and the high concentration of international distribution, lithium supply may become an important constraint in the context of global carbon neutralization. Sodium salt raw materials are abundant. Therefore, if sodium ion batteries can be used commercially, it can not only greatly reduce costs, but also ensure the smooth implementation of the national new energy strategy.”
low cost energy storage advantages highlight
At present, the mainstream choice in the field of energy storage is lithium-ion battery, which has long cycle life and is friendly to the environment, but the geopolitics and lack of lithium resources are the biggest problems. At the same time, the safety of large-scale energy storage system is also an issue that the industry has to treat carefully.
With the global acceleration of carbon neutralization, the contradiction between the insufficient supply of lithium ore and the rapid growth of demand has become more prominent. Therefore, sodium ion batteries with lower cost energy storage advantages and safer performance have begun to be favored by the industry. The report issued by the prospective industry research institute shows that the material cost of sodium ion battery with nacufemno / soft carbon system is lower than that of lithium ion battery with lithium iron phosphate / graphite system, which can be reduced by 30% to 40%; In terms of the cost of material structure, the cost of cathode material of lithium-ion battery accounts for the highest, accounting for 43%, while the cost of cathode material of sodium ion battery is only 26%.
Wang Xintai, nickel analyst of Shanghai Ganglian E-Commerce Holdings Co.Ltd(300226) stainless steel division, said in an interview with the reporter of Securities Daily, “Sodium is more widely distributed than lithium in terms of resources, and sodium is more abundant than lithium in China, which is easier to obtain in terms of resources. At the same time, compared with lithium iron phosphate battery, sodium battery can still ensure a certain service time during the high and low temperature period of minus 20 to 250, and is not easy to catch fire and explode in terms of overcharge, over discharge, short circuit, acupuncture, etc. However, at this stage, sodium ion battery has certain advantages over lithium iron phosphate battery in terms of cycle performance and capacity density Disadvantages. “
policies intensively release positive signals
In fact, the research of sodium ion battery and lithium ion battery began in the 1970s, but the promotion speed of sodium ion battery is far behind that of lithium battery. “Sodium ion battery technology has existed for a long time. The reason why it has not been widely popularized is related to its low energy density and low cycle life. Therefore, the development speed is far from reaching the development level of lithium battery.” Zhang Xiaorong, President of deep science and Technology Research Institute, told the reporter of Securities Daily.
With the increasing demand for energy storage, the research of sodium ion battery has made rapid progress in recent ten years, and the policy level has also continuously released positive signals. The 14th five year plan for scientific and technological innovation in the energy field proposes to develop a new generation of high-performance energy storage technologies such as sodium ion batteries; On March 21, the national development and Reform Commission and the Energy Administration issued the implementation plan for the development of new energy storage in the 14th five year plan, which proposed to carry out research on the optimization design of key core technologies, equipment and integration such as sodium ion batteries.
In terms of industrial development support, in August 2021, the Ministry of industry and information technology said that it would organize relevant standard research institutions to formulate sodium ion battery standards in a timely manner, and provide support in standard project approval and other links.
“In the short term, the sodium ion battery industry chain has just started, the theoretical energy density is low, and the technical difficulties have not been solved. There is still uncertainty about whether it can be successfully applied in large-scale commerce, and there is still a long way to go in terms of cathode preparation, electrolyte packaging technology and so on.” “However, considering the significance of sodium ion batteries to energy security, even if its future technological breakthrough is limited and can not replace lithium-ion batteries, it will also become an important part of the industrial chain to avoid affecting the development of new energy due to the tight supply of important mineral resources,” Wang Meiting told Securities Daily
Wang Xintai believes that sodium ion has more advantages in safety and stability, while the energy storage sector has higher requirements for safety and stability, lower requirements for density and better matching in the energy storage sector. It may compete with lithium iron phosphate battery in the energy storage field in the future.
More than one company
Driven by the rapid expansion of market demand and the spring breeze of policy, sodium ion batteries are back on the air outlet, opening a new imagination space for the energy storage industry. According to the white paper on the development of China’s sodium ion battery industry (2022) jointly released by evtank, the Research Institute, and the Yiwei Economic Research Institute, the market space of sodium ion battery in 2026 may reach 369.5gwh, and the theoretical market scale may reach 150 billion yuan. Evtank also predicts that the industrialization of sodium ion batteries will be realized after 2025.
Although many industry insiders believe that sodium ion batteries need some time before they can be truly industrialized on a large scale. However, since 2021, many battery enterprises, including Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) , zhongkehai sodium, Sunwoda Electronic Co.Ltd(300207) , Guangzhou Great Power Energy&Technology Co.Ltd(300438) , sodium innovative energy, etc., have laid out sodium ion batteries one after another, and Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co.Ltd(688005) , Gem Co.Ltd(002340) and other material enterprises have also gradually carried out the research, development and industrialization exploration of cathode materials for sodium ion batteries.
According to tianyancha data, zhongkehai sodium, a new foreign investment enterprise of Shenzhen Hubble technology investment partnership (limited partnership) under Huawei Hubble, has a shareholding ratio of about 13.33%, and the registered capital of the latter has increased to about 30.95 million yuan. It is reported that zhongkehaina, founded in 2017, is the first company in China to focus on the development of sodium ion batteries.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) announced the first generation of sodium ion battery and lithium sodium hybrid battery pack in July 2021 Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) relevant person in charge said that sodium ion batteries have unique advantages and different application scenarios, and will coexist and complement with lithium-ion batteries. The company’s first generation sodium ion battery has begun commercial cooperation with vehicle enterprises and energy storage customers.
“In the field of new energy, technology is changing rapidly, and every technological progress may bring huge changes to the industry. For industry leading enterprises and emerging enterprises, it is necessary to lay out in advance and look for opportunities to overtake on corners.” Wang Meiting believes that the electrochemical industry is an R & D intensive industry, which requires a long time of investment and industry accumulation. In addition, sodium ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries are interlinked in cathode, electrolyte and packaging technology. Therefore, most of the sodium ion battery enterprises are storage battery enterprises.
However, as for whether sodium ion batteries can really be commercialized in the future, Wang Meiting also warned that at present, there are no large-scale commercial sodium ion products in the market. Ultimately, it is the technological breakthrough that determines their commercialization. For example, in the field of photovoltaic, thin-film photovoltaic power generation has proved to be an uneconomical technical direction, which has led to large-scale industry restructuring. Sodium ion batteries not only need advanced technological breakthroughs, but also need the optimization and cost reduction of all links in the industry. At present, it is not a day’s work.
