Lithium-ion batteries have been the workhorses of the renewable energy transition since the early 2000s, but the world is changing and so is energy storage. Researchers have been eyeballing a new sodium-ion battery formula that provides for a high level of performance while avoiding the supply chain issues that can bedevil conventional Li-ion batteries, and now all that hard work is beginning to pay off.
The 600 megawatts is just for starters. Natron also anticipates that the Holland factory will provide a model for future gigawatt-scale factories to follow, with an eye on additional markets, including off-road industrial vehicles and EV fast charging stations, as well as the telecom field.If you’re looking forward to a sodium-ion battery for your next electric vehicle, you may have to wait a while. In the meantime, Natron’s technology fits the bill for large-scale energy storage.
“Natron’s tray provides data center operators up to 2x higher power density and 10x longer cycle life than existing products, along with superior safety performance,” ARPA-E adds.The sustainability factor) has been driving the interest in sodium-ion batteries. However, there being no such thing as a free lunch, the battery of the future has been elusive until recent years.
Longtime energy storage researcher Jean-Marie Tarascon of the College of France was even more forthcoming. “Sodium-ion technology is really a clone of lithium-ion technology,” he toldAside from weight, another challenge has been longevity. The Energy Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory explained the problem back in 2022, describing a weak link as the protective film on the anode of a sodium-ion battery, which degrades over time.