The reason for the lower cost of sodium-ion batteries may be widely used in  energy storage scenarios

　　After the lithium-ion battery industry has experienced shocking price hikes  for raw materials in recent months, the leaders of the lithium-ion battery  industry have begun to seriously think about the real way forward. The reason is  very simple. Under the circumstance that the market demand for lithium-ion  batteries is not high, problems such as scarcity of lithium resources, uneven  distribution, and difficulty in development and utilization have been  ignored.

　　Therefore, the sodium-ion battery with wide distribution of resources has  returned to people's field of vision, and CATL has even launched a marketable  sodium-ion battery. The market is very optimistic about the prospects of  sodium-ion batteries, because it is an ideal low-cost alternative. For the  energy storage market with lower energy density requirements, sodium-ion  batteries are more like a delicious meal.

　　Although SES Power focuses on the design and manufacture of customized  lithium-ion batteries, we have always paid close attention to the technological  development of secondary rechargeable batteries. We use 12V100Ah, 12V200Ah,  24V100Ah, 24V200Ah, 36V100Ah, 48V50Ah, 48V100Ah, etc. of square aluminum-shell  lithium iron phosphate batteries, and 12V30Ah, 12V50Ah, 12V60Ah automotive  starting batteries with high-performance rate lithium batteries (the maximum  peak current can reach 1500A), Very popular with customers, but we are also  facing cost pressure, and sodium-ion batteries will be a good alternative in the  future.

　　The principle structure of sodium-ion battery is similar to that of  lithium-ion battery. Compared with lithium-ion battery, sodium-ion battery has  more resources, lower cost and less fluctuation. The price of lithium resources  is greatly affected by the stock and production capacity. As of February 2022,  the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate, the main raw material, exceeded  US$80,000/ton, a record high.

　　According to the research of SES Power, the raw material cost of  copper-based sodium-ion battery is US$46/KWh, the material cost of lithium iron  phosphate battery is US$68/KWh, and the cost of lead-acid battery is US$60/Wh.  Lithium iron phosphate batteries are about 1/3 lower.

　　The main reasons for the low cost of sodium-ion batteries are:

　　1. Sodium is one of several elements more abundant in the Earth's crust,  2-3 orders of magnitude more abundant than lithium. The raw material sodium  carbonate is rich in resources, the price is low and stable, and the price will  remain at 1000-4000 yuan / ton in 10 years;

　　2. The cathode materials in sodium-ion batteries are mostly iron,  manganese, copper and other elements, which almost get rid of the dependence on  the relatively low abundance and expensive nickel and cobalt elements, and have  a wider selection range;

　　3. The hard carbon process used in the negative electrode has lower  requirements and has low-cost potential;

　　4. The sodium-ion anode current collector can use cheaper aluminum foil to  replace the copper foil current collector in traditional lithium-ion batteries,  thereby further reducing battery costs.

　　However, the energy density of sodium-ion batteries is low, and the volume  is 20%-30% larger than that of lithium batteries. Therefore, high-end  application scenarios such as mobile phones and notebook computers are not the  main battlefield of sodium-ion batteries. The energy storage market is larger  than the electric vehicle market, with more stringent cost requirements than  electric vehicles and insensitive to volume requirements, which will become the  main battlefield for sodium-ion batteries.

　　Because the energy storage power station is not limited by the energy  density, the low-cost sodium-ion battery can meet the requirements of energy  storage, and the low-temperature safety and other characteristics of the  sodium-ion battery further broaden the application scenarios of supporting  energy storage.