Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

According to the import and export data, many institutions had predicted that this year would be the "first year of mass production of sodium batteries", but there are not many models that have announced the "getting on" plan for Sodium-ion battery. Especially since this year, the price of Lithium carbonate has dropped, further increasing the market's doubts about Sodium-ion battery as a "lithium battery replacement". Is the Sodium-ion battery that was once sought after by capital still popular?

There are two main reasons for the popularity of Sodium-ion battery. One is the price advantage. Different from lithium resources, sodium resources in the crust are abundant and widely distributed, with huge reserves in the ocean and salt lakes. There is no resource constraint problem when using Sodium-ion battery, and the material cost is far lower than that of lithium ion batteries. The price of sodium carbonate as cathode material is kept at 3000 yuan/ton all the year round, which is far lower than the price of Lithium carbonate. Other major elements of cathode, such as iron, manganese and copper, are also cheap commodities. Copper foil is not required for coal based materials and collector fluid used for cathode, which is lower than the cost of materials used for lithium batteries.

The second is complementary performance. Although the energy density is low, part of the performance of Sodium-ion battery is complementary to that of lithium ion battery. For example, the operating temperature range of Sodium-ion battery is wider than that of lithium ion battery. The internal resistance of Sodium-ion battery is large, the instantaneous heat released during short circuit is less than that of lithium ion battery, and the temperature rise is lower, so it has advantages in safety. In addition, the Sodium-ion battery has good charge discharge rate performance and can achieve fast power response, which is suitable for power system energy storage applications.

Import and export data show that the price advantage of Sodium-ion battery is no longer obvious. With the accelerated deployment of lithium mines by enterprises, the price of domestic battery grade Lithium carbonate has fallen rapidly since the beginning of this year, and has fallen below 200000 yuan/ton in April. Although it gradually rebounded to 300000 yuan/ton thereafter, it was only 50% of the historical high. According to the import and export data, the industry judges that when the price of Lithium carbonate is 200000 yuan/ton, the cost of mass production of Sodium-ion battery is 76% of that of lithium ion batteries; When the price of Lithium carbonate reaches 50000 yuan/ton, the cost gap between the two is only about 5%. The falling price of Lithium carbonate is bound to weaken the market attraction of Sodium-ion battery.

According to the import and export data, at present, the energy density and cycle life of Sodium-ion battery are only two thirds and one half of that of Lithium iron phosphate battery, which is difficult to meet the demand of passenger car power batteries. In terms of cost, although the cost of Sodium-ion battery has great potential to decline, the production cost of Sodium-ion battery is still higher than that of lithium ion battery due to the small overall production at present.

In addition, the pain points of Sodium-ion battery industrialization have not been solved. Although Sodium-ion battery can be compatible with lithium ion battery production equipment, the industry has not yet formed a sound supply chain. First, the Sodium-ion battery material system has not yet achieved industry consensus. Taking cathode materials as an example, the mass production technology related to layered oxides has been basically overcome, but it is difficult to remove Prussian blue Water of crystallization, the relevant preparation technology is still tackling, and the mass production technology related to polyanion cathode is also in the development stage. In terms of negative electrode materials, the specific capacity of hard carbon is relatively high, but biomass precursors are generally used, resulting in low carbon production rate and disadvantages in cost and scale. In terms of electrolyte, the synthesis process of Sodium hexafluorophosphate is similar to that of Lithium hexafluorophosphate, but the thermal stability is poor. Second, the technical standard of Sodium-ion battery is not perfect, and the battery voltage platforms are different under different Technology roadmap, which also puts forward higher requirements for Battery management system and inverter. Import and export data shows that in addition, technologies such as sodium ion compensation and life prediction still need to be developed.

In terms of application, it is also necessary to find suitable application scenarios.

Large scale mass production is a prerequisite to give full play to the cost advantage of Sodium-ion battery. At present, the promotion effect of lithium battery electric vehicles in northern cold regions is poor. With stronger low-temperature adaptability, Sodium-ion battery are expected to be the first to open the market in northern regions. For segmented markets such as electric two wheeled vehicles, their endurance is also better than lead-acid batteries. Due to better security, Sodium-ion battery is also more suitable for uninterrupted power supply of banks, communication base stations, data centers and other institutions. Especially in the field of power system energy storage, Sodium-ion battery is expected to become the lowest cost electrochemical Energy storage, truly realizing the economic grid connection of large-scale wind power and photovoltaic power generation.

After years of accumulation, China has a strong R&D and talent base in the field of Sodium-ion battery, and the barriers between laboratories and industrialization are collapsing. How to find a competitive Niche market in the early stage of development, and achieve breakthroughs in cost and output simultaneously, is the key to the development of Sodium-ion battery industry at this stage. (Translated from: Economic Daily - Author: Liu Jianzhong Wealth)