Ten major consensuses in the sodium power industry in 2024

The sodium power industry in 2024 is a year of seeking breakthroughs in multiple technical routes, breaking through each of the main materials and unifying and coordinating. In the new energy industry, stable quality improvement and rapid cost reduction are the goals of the year and even the next few years. In terms of the technical advancement and commercialization of sodium power, SMM summarizes the ten major consensuses of the industry.

Sodium power positive electrode materials: One of the four main materials, with a high cost share, divided into three types: Prussian blue, layered oxide type (also known as transition metal oxide type) and polyanion type. The layered oxygen technology is mature, the polyanion industry chain is formed, and the industrialization of Prussian blue is accelerating.

One of the ten major consensuses: layered oxygen and polyanion. Sodium power positive electrode materials are similar to the ternary route and lithium iron phosphate route of lithium power. In the layered oxygen route and polyanion route of sodium power, layered oxygen is ternary and polyanion is phosphate. But layered oxygen is not limited to three-no, there are multiple crystal structures. Polyanion is not limited to phosphate, but also sulfate and vanadate. Sodium power positive electrode materials are diversified.

The second of the ten major consensuses: layer oxygen first, followed by polycathode. The layer oxygen route is more mature in industrialization than the polycathode route and will take the lead. Compared with lead acid and lithium iron phosphate, the layer oxygen route has performance advantages in the subdivided field and is the first to scale up. The polycathode route has better cost performance, long cycle life and low storage cost of electricity, which is favored by the industry and has been developed in the later stage, catching up in the past one or two years.

Sodium battery negative electrode material: One of the four main materials, the cost accounts for a high proportion. The bottleneck of sodium battery technology is the negative electrode, and the technical focus is on the hard carbon series. Domestic technology has blossomed in many places and sought greater breakthroughs.

The third of the ten major consensuses: the short-term operability of the product. In the short term, biomass such as coconut shells can mature quickly and be applied to the market as negative electrode precursors. At present, biomass negative electrodes dominate. From the perspective of the technical development of hard carbon negative electrodes, biological hard carbon raw materials have gradually completed the domestic substitution of coconut shells, and the proportion of domestic raw materials with large output and low cost has increased rapidly, and there will be sufficient supply of products in the future. High-performance products of biological hard carbon need to continue to break through the bottleneck of processing technology and overcome the challenges of impurities and consistency brought by biomass raw materials.

The fourth of the ten major consensuses: the long-term development of the industry. In the long run, the technical breakthrough and cost reduction of the negative electrode will be carried out simultaneously. Multiple routes of hard carbon negative electrode will be exerted at the same time. After gradually solving the problems of wide sources of precursors but different quality and difficult and high-cost impurity removal technology, biomass hard carbon will continue to provide the market with high-performance products. With the advancement of hard carbon negative electrode material production technology, the rapid industrialization of fossil hard carbon and plastic hard carbon with large raw material supply, low price and good consistency will form an important hard carbon negative electrode category. Resin hard carbon technology is constantly improving, and there is still a lot of room for development in the market segment of high-performance hard carbon negative electrode materials.

In terms of sodium electrolyte: one of the four main materials, it has a high cost share, large investment in formula research and development, and high cost of production line switching.

The fifth of the ten major consensuses: costs may drop sharply. With the completion and launch of the construction of sodium-specific production lines, production costs will drop rapidly after demand increases.

Sodium battery diaphragm: one of the four main materials, the cost accounts for a high proportion. The current product system is well matched to the development of the sodium battery market and meets the needs of sodium-ion batteries.

The sixth of the ten major consensuses: maintain the same frequency and iterate at any time. The current diaphragm products are diverse, and the base film and the cover film can be directly used in sodium batteries, and the lithium battery diaphragm production line can be shared.

In terms of industry development and industrial progress: the final landing application of battery cell products requires all the princes to gather in the sodium battery industry chain with innovative thinking, cost-effective and stable technology, pioneering and innovative ingenuity and sufficient funds: brewing, breakthrough and outbreak!

In the early stage of sodium battery industrialization, the performance characteristics of sodium battery cells are highlighted, and they are cut into the differentiated market different from lithium battery and lead-acid. The construction of the sodium battery industry chain is initially completed. After gaining a foothold in the subdivided field, the technology is rapidly improved, the cost is reduced, and the market scope is gradually expanded. The scale benefits of the sodium battery industry chain are formed.

The seventh of the ten major consensuses: distinctive characteristics and clear positioning. Sodium battery has distinct characteristics, high safety, good low-temperature performance, etc. The positioning of the sinking market is gradually clear, and the high-latitude energy storage market and the market with high safety requirements are in place. The two-wheel vehicle market in densely populated cities will first form a scale effect.

The eighth of the ten major consensuses: The business logic is on cost reduction. The business model of sodium electricity is still reducing costs. In terms of the four main materials, different battery cell products are benchmarked to formulate cost reduction routes and cost reduction. When sodium electricity is "cold", leading enterprises need to advance against the trend, reduce costs and increase efficiency, and scale up.

The ninth of the ten major consensuses: A wave of arms will attract many people. The sodium electricity industry has never lacked passion, but what it lacks is solid technological innovation and product innovation. The development of sodium electricity requires collaborative innovation across the industry, building new quality productivity, improving quality and efficiency, and opening up a blue ocean market. Sodium electricity needs to break a new path for the development of the new energy industry when the cost of lithium batteries is reduced to the limit, continue to reduce the cost of energy storage, and improve the utilization efficiency of sustainable new energy. While the entire sodium electricity industry is highly collaborative and innovative, it is expected that leading enterprises will continue to emerge in the industry. Leading enterprises have the power to grow rapidly, be inclusive, open, and broaden the path of sodium electricity commercialization together. The dark horse of the sodium power industry also needs to emerge in time in each link of the industrial chain, learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, and jointly build the ecosystem of sodium power.

The tenth consensus of the ten major points: Invest in new quality productivity. The sodium power industry is an emerging industry. Technological innovation promotes the development of new sodium power materials. New sodium power materials promote the improvement of energy density, cycle life, high safety, high rate, wide operating temperature range, etc. of sodium battery cells. The development of the sodium power industry has broadened the scope of human utilization of natural resources, reduced the cost of energy storage, and thus developed social productivity. Compared with lithium power, sodium power is an innovation in material technology. Sodium and lithium are like iron and copper. The use of new materials will improve productivity; the improvement of productivity will promote wealth proliferation, and wealth proliferation will accelerate technological innovation. The development of sodium power has adopted a large number of technical experience and components accumulated by lithium power, while avoiding excessive consumption of scarce metals cobalt and lithium. It can simultaneously improve the economic benefits and market competitiveness of new energy batteries and create a new blue ocean market.

The essence of the sodium power industry is manufacturing. To invest in sodium electricity, we must seize the main line of new technology, new materials, new equipment and new productivity, find teams that are innovative and capable of industrialization, and invest in good projects that can achieve a hundredfold growth and high dividends. The road to sodium electricity is already here, and the blue ocean is calling!