Future Sodium Ion Batteries Could Be Ten Times Cheaper for Energy Storage

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CATL of China is mass producing generation 1 sodium ion batteries starting next month. The first factory has about a 40 GWH per year capacity.

China has 16 out of 20 globally planned or built sodium battery factories according to Benchmark Minerals.

CATL’s first-generation sodium battery generates 160-watt-hours per kilogram. This is 10% less energy than iron LFP batteries and 40% less than mass produced nickel batteries. CATL plans to increase the energy density of next generation sodium ion to 200 Wh/kg. CATL’s sodium-ion batteries will be used by China’s Chery, the first automaker to use the technology.

The first generation sodium ion are a bit cheaper than LFP but the volumes will not be worldchanging. However, the second generation sodium ion could reach $40 per kWh. Iron LFP batteries could get to $50/kWh with really high volume and efficiency at the cell level. The future low price of sodium ion would make for insanely cheap fixed storage products like the Tesla Megapack and Powerwalls.

They also do not have practical material limits. There is no shortage of salt or soda ash. The United States has about 90% of the world’s readily mined reserves of soda ash. Wyoming has 47 billion tons of mineable soda ash in the Green River basin. There would be hundreds of TWH of power storage from each billion tons of soda ash.

Based on material costs of $4 per kWh there could be $8 to $10 per kWh sodium ion batteries in the future. This would be ten times cheaper than energy storage batteries today.

Soda Ash Mine in Wyoming

A new mine project near Green River will tap into the world’s largest soda ash deposit and satisfy the growing demand for electric vehicles and solar panels.

In 2019, annual demand for soda ash was about 58 million tons and by 2021, that jumped to 63 million tons.

The Wyoming mine, which the company is calling Project West, has the potential to produce 3 million tons to start and is scalable, so the company can increase production later. To facilitate soda ash exports, the company received a permit to export 14 million tons from a Stockton, California, port terminal. The mining will be done with an in-situ process to extract soda ash from trona ore. The ore is then processed into soda ash.

Water is injected as a brine or salt and water solution. It is then circulated throughout the mine workings to dissolve soda ash and salt from the original pillars and walls. The brine is pumped to an evaporation pond. Submersible pumps are used, each pumping about 9,000 liters per minute. As the liquid cools, the soda ash and salt crystals settle to the bottom of the pond. The cool brine is then heated and reinjected into the mine to start dissolving soda ash again. The remaining soda ash in the ponds is removed with floating dredges and pumped to the mill.

They will capture and recycle the water.

33 thoughts on “Future Sodium Ion Batteries Could Be Ten Times Cheaper for Energy Storage”

  1. Seeing from the cost breakdown by Wood Mackenzie, $/kWh of sodium ion battery won’t be less than 50, even if CAM is 0 $/kg and Wh/kg of CAM is doubled (as we need to pay the same for other materials that are equivalent to 1 kWh.)

  2. As a low-intellect, avg-income, middle-aged American, i have to say that people need to rein in their expectations. Until we find another habitable planet, this is the only one we have, and it makes sense to try to keep everything as clean as possible. However, most people cannot afford to drop $60,000-$80,000 for an electric vehicle, plus the $5,000+ for a home charging station. On top of that, the range on the vehicles are at best, barely equal to the range of gas-powered vehicles. And while access is increasing, there aren’t charging stations that are as ubiquitous as gas stations. At the end of the day, the future technology is great, and is very promising, but it just isnt practical yet. And for those that have their panties in a bunch over the supposed “climate change”, every American could drive an EV, and it wouldn’t even make a hint of difference until you get China reigned in. And it takes a special level of naivete to think that our “leadership” on green energy is going to make China say, “Oh snap! Well, since America is going green and jacking up costs to reduce pollution, I suppose we should stop what we are doing and follow them.” To be honest, there are plenty of ways to generate power, besides the dream of wind/solar, that is far more efficient and cleaner, but unfortunately the oil industry will not let that happen. I hope that before I die that I do get to see us harnessing fusion and using power that is supplied without the use of fossil fuels.

    • Regarding the statement: “for those that have their panties in a bunch over the supposed “climate change”, every American could drive an EV, and it wouldn’t even make a hint of difference until you get China reigned in. And it takes a special level of naivete to think that our “leadership” on green energy is going to make China say, “Oh snap!” China has far more solar PV electricity than the US, by far and the coal fired power plants that they are building would not have had to be built if it were not for the Chinese making almost every pair of panties, socks and brassieres (“Oh snap”) for us Americans. We literally walk and sit on fabricated pieces of China here in the good ole’ US of A. The Chinese population is leveling and will start to drop in the not-to-distant future and the coal fired power plants will then become semi-retired, and then only be used for redundancy of their electrical supply. Sort of future grid proofing. Much of our western solar panels and batteries come from China, as well. China rules, globally, in the battery world in 2023 and the near future. China acquired vast wealth making low-end consumer products for Americans because of offshoring from the US and the fact that American’s wages have stagnated for neigh onto 50 years due to neoliberal economics, so that low-cost Chinese underwear has entirely replaced America’s Fruit of the Loom.

  4. Everyday, it seems, there’s a new breakthrough with EV battery tech. Then, there’s hydrogen fuel cell tech that is rolling out here and there. There’s solar powered cars in the works. There’s green ammonia power. There’s the forever battery that goes from coast to coast on a single charge. All this goes on and on. It seems to me the best scenario for transport would be one that does not need a network of charging stations. Considering the variety of tech which is already viably an alternative, battery charging stations seem like a waste. Worse, then, the incredible numbers of EVs currently in production seems like a mindboggling waste of time and money given there’s already tech which can power your car from day one throughout the life of the vehicle without the need to spend an additional cent to power it. The problem is not so much if it’s scalable, etc. The problem is the truth is such cars are going to be unbelievably cheap given mass production. Matter of fact, so cheap that it should be possible for individuals to order customized modular parts from Amazon for example, and put them together at home without the need for some large cap car co. to produce it for you. The people We elect to government should be doing every they can to direct incentives toward tech innovation progress which gives the individual max autonomy. Instead, history is going toward repeating the bad and the ugly along with the good.

  5. The batteries on all models of EVs are warranty for at least eight years or Hundred Thousand Miles.
    My friend bought a first generation Nissan Leaf in 2011
    he’s still got it and its done over 150 000 its drop down a few bars but it still does over 60 miles per charge.
    The motor and fixed gear box expect to last for life.

  6. OK, so these sodium based batteries are much cheaper to produce but do not hold quite as much electricity as a lithium battery of the same weight. What I am dying to know is how long do they last? How many charge /discharge cycles will they provide before they lose a great deal of capacity?

  7. I am an average guy that has been lucky enough to have had a couple of new car but even more second hand cars. Now just take a cheap EV say around $60000 and have it around 5 to 6 years and trade-in to dealer .(Scenario) I get $25000, dealer sells it to buyer for $30000 I’m estimating the life of the batteries being 6 to 7 years an twelve months after you have bought the car your told the batteries are shoot and need replacing and I heard the cost of the batteries was approximately 1/3 the cost of the car and it’s going to cost you around another $20000 to replace them. As we all know tyres and batteries are not covered under warranties then your second hand car has jumped back up to $50000 again so you may as well bought a new EV. All I can see is that car manufacturers come to the stage where they will possibly only be making throw away cars.

    • I’m with you. I have a large family and have warned my children about Ev’s. The wealthy might have tunnel vision as far as the average middle to lower class (the vast majority of societies). Buying a used car when trying to start in life is a important decision. You can find reliable ICE engine vehicles 10 or more years old at reasonable prices. That is impossible with Ev automobiles. If you do find one 7 years old, 3 years maybe longer and you pay as much/more for refurbished battery packs than the original car. One daughter has already had this problem with her Prius hybrid. In her case, its not as much as the car but it’s cost prohibitive for what indefinite battery life she might receive. She found a 96 buick, low mileage from a lady and the Prius is parked. She has a lower income and basically got 2.5 years out of her 2014 Prius. Love my kids and it hurts to see them struggle for trying to go green. We all want to but the propaganda so far does not consider the average persons long term security and financial ability.

    • My electric car is nine years old. The initial max charge was 280 miles. I am now down to 230. In another nine years. It will probably be done to a max charge of 180 miles. Fine for city driving, but not out of town.

  8. I am not an expert, but from what I have read, sodium-ion batteries have less energy density that lithium-ion ones do. That means that sodium-ion batteries would have to weigh more and be more bulky to pack the same “punch” as there lithium-ion counterparts. That is definitely a problem for EVs, but NOT really an issue when they are being used to store energy for the grid that is produced from “clean” but intermittent sources such as solar and wind. This may be where sodium-ion batteries will truly find their niche, although they may yet be viable for EVs too as the technology advances.

    • The article already stated that case of 160 Wh/kg compared to LFP’s more energy dense – but the second generation seeks to boost energy density to 200 Wh/kg, so that would overtake LFP, both in energy density and cost to produce, with abundant reserves of salt and soda ash.

      We could be looking at far better options than lithium in the future.

    • Yes, this is true, the first gen will probably shine in grid storage.

      However, 160 Wh/kg is more than enough for city cars, buses, refuse trucks… and other low perfornance, low-range vehicles .

  9. Lithium is also ubiquitous. Unfortunately, up until recently, no serious domestic exploration has happened. Fortunately, everyone is now exploring and developing deposits… and, guess what? Good old American capitalism has positioned the U.S. as the world’s largest resource of Li. Too bad sodium, we don’t need ya no more… lithium is better and, now becoming, extremely abundant!

    • USA may have Li in abundance, but is populated right across the country (almost), so establishing a Li mine, anywhere, will be met with public backlash. Actually, Australia is the largest miner of Li at the moment, with sufficient remoteness in the north to not be up against the level of scrutiny over mining operations as you would encounter in the USA. Should China drop out of exporting to USA, Australia is the next-best bet. We got your back, homie!

  10. So I realize sodium is abundant in the oceans but if we were to get several days’ worth of grid storage from seawater sodium, we’d have a truly massive amount of chlorine left over. Is there a safe way to dispose of it?

  11. Say, we all like cheap and inexpensive power. Do these batteries self immolate like poorly made Lithium Ion batteries? It would be cool to have batteries we don’t have to worry about burning down our home, apartments or parking lots.

    • People literally burn highly flammable gasoline in cars. They burn highly flammable natural gas in their homes. Yet no one worries thinks twice about that.

      Batteries are much safer than either of those. Cheap quality anything is dangerous. There are regulatory standards that have to be met by high power batteries used in homes.

      • Ya, but as a general rule gasoline cars do not spontaneously combust. Regulatory standards are nice to but does anything made in China (scooters, hoverboards, cars…) meet those standards?

        Feel free to go on Youtube and search for “ev fires”. Enjoy the rabbit hole.

    • Nope. Sodium is much safer. And it makes far more reliable batteries that are functional in a wider temperature range. It is better than lithium in every domain except energy density.
      There will always be a gap. But the technologies are improving with the 2 materials, and you will have much more efficient sodium batteries in the coming years.

  12. The $/Kwh doesn’t help in figuring out at what cost level are storage batteries economical. You have to know the total cost including maintenance and financing and how long will the storage unit last. Assuming 10 years at 4 hrs a day you get 14,600 hours of storage. Assuming maintenance, financing, and operating are as much as purchasing you get 0.6 cents per kwh for the $50/kwh packs. This is incredibly cheap. A $7/WMH difference between solar and the cost of the replacement for solar is enough. Cheap solar coupled with cheap battery storage will kill everything else. And the more hours of the day you use solar and battery combination the cheaper they get.

  13. Well, one thing is for certs … The roll out of CATL Na⁺ is definitely going to displace a lot of lithium ion chemistry batteries. Because of price. And the price is directly a consequence of using a nearly-free sodium chemistry instead of lithium’s not-so-cheap basis.

    Meaning, if there is a market for inexpensive, modest range, light-weight, compact, all-electric cars for many of the world’s market of people, well … CATL fits the bill quite well. At $50/kWh, having ‘merely’ 50 kWh or $2,500 worth of batteries in a car … having a range of about 200 miles, really fits the ‘commuter demographic’ in most every part of America. Seriously: very, very few people who commute to work and back home, with a few normal domestic errands along the way log more than 150 miles for an entire day. Very, very few.

    Honda Civic sized, or Toyota Camry sized, or Hyundai Sonata sized … basically fills the bill, so long as the 200± range is realized, especially with at-night at-home recharging. 50 kWh, in a 10 hour night, is only 5 kW charge rate, which at 220 volts is 25 amps. EASILY achievable without modification, for 99% of houses. However, for apartments, this is more problematic.

    ⋅-⋅-⋅ Just saying, ⋅-⋅-⋅
    ⋅-=≡ GoatGuy ✓ ≡=-⋅

    • Yup… works for the 1 out of 7 people on the planet that benefit from modern infrastructure. Petroleum for e’rybody else.

      • Or, another way to look at it, a lot of people can sidestep a petroleum based system and leapfrog to a solar-battery based economy…
        (Just looking for an optimists angle)

        • I just spent three weeks in the philippines (Manila, Cebu, Buhol). Motorbikes and diesel vans/trucks were in use… there were a handful of ebikes and e-coolie rickshaws in the mix. They don’t have the Grid to support more than token use of electronics besides fans. I’m not surprised India is more electrified

      • Almost everyone on the planet has a mobile phone now, I see no reason electric car and charging could not become equally ubiquitous in most urban areas around the world. And the world is ever more urbanized (Africa an Asia have reached 50%, and it’s only going up)

    • Goat,

      I was under the impression that the cost of the lithium is but a small fraction of the total price of lithium batteries?

      Alternative chemistries have to offer more than just lower active metal prices. The 10x lower cost claim likely involves manufacturing and packaging advantages more than reduced raw materials prices.

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