sodium-ion batteries: Northvolt of Sweden has created an energy storage system devoid of nickel, cobalt, graphite, or lithium. This could lessen China’s reliance on the green energy transition.
Sodium-Ion Batteries Avoid The Need For Critical Materials Such As Lithium
The Swedish company Northvolt debuted sodium-ion batteries last month, which totally eliminate the requirement for necessary minerals like lithium. As of right now, there isn’t a battery chemistry that works well without lithium.
Found worldwide in rock salts and brines, sodium is one of the planet’s most plentiful and widely distributed resources. It is less vulnerable to problems with resource availability and price fluctuation because it is more affordable and plentiful than lithium. Additionally, this could lessen reliance on China as we convert to green energy.
The battery from Northvolt features a high-sodium Prussian White cathode and a hard carbon anode. Iron and sodium, two easily obtained raw elements, are used to make Prussian White. The batteries composed of these materials will be marketed by the Northvolt group first.
Compared to traditional batteries composed of nickel, manganese, cobalt, or iron phosphate, the battery is more affordable and environmentally friendly. According to Northvolt, the carbon footprint of the battery will be lowered by substituting hard carbon for graphite.
Compared to current comparable batteries that have a carbon footprint of 100–150 kg/kWh, its battery has a far lower carbon footprint of 10–20 kg/kWh.
Sodium-Ion Batteries Could Substantially Reduce Dependence On China
The field of battery technology is developing quickly. Lithium-ion batteries, which are light, compact, and have a large energy capacity, power the majority of electric vehicles (EVs). Batteries use a common set of components even though their composition varies.
For electric vehicles (EVs), lithium-ion batteries can be nickel-based, utilising either lithium iron phosphate (LFP) or nickel cobalt aluminium oxide (NCA) and nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC).
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a shrill rise in sales of electric vehicles, which has intensified worries about China’s hegemony in the lithium battery supply chain.
Although EV supply chains are growing, China continues to be a major role in the sale of batteries and other EV components.
From the processing of raw materials to the manufacturing of cell and battery components, China is a major player in many aspects of the downstream EV battery supply chain.
Even though China only supplied 15% of the world’s raw materials for lithium in 2022, the country is home to 60% of the battery metal refining process that produces specialty battery chemicals.
China is the world’s largest producer of lithium-ion batteries, mostly due to Beijing’s early push towards electrification, especially through EV subsidies.
Battery cell manufacturing is concentrated in China (2022)
For EV makers, there are other concerns besides being dependent on particular suppliers. An EV’s entire cost is mostly determined by its batteries, which typically make up 30% to 40% of the vehicle’s value. As battery sizes increase, this proportion also rises.
Prices for battery-operated elements, such as cobalt and lithium, have reached multi-year highs due to the growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and constricting supply chains. Prices are impacted by this, which discourages buyers from switching to electric cars.
As demand for EV batteries increased, battery manufacturers were forced to consider alternate technologies such as sodium-ion due to the sharp rise in lithium pricing. It is evident that raw material costs are still a crucial indicator for the battery industry.
According to data from S&P Global, the price of sodium carbonate has been below $200 per metric tonne for a number of years, and capacity has continuously outpaced global demand over the previous ten years by roughly 10 million metric tonnes annually. Moreover, sodium can be created artificially.
Sodium-Ion Technology Will Continue To Evolve
The comparatively low energy density of sodium-ion batteries—the amount of energy stored in relation to the battery’s volume—is one of its main drawbacks. Batteries with a lower energy density are larger and heavier.
The new battery from Northvolt has an energy density of more than 160 watt-hours per kilogramme, which is comparable to the kind of lithium batteries that are usually used in energy storage applications where size is not an issue. The Swedish firm stated that although their battery was intended for use in power storage facilities, it may also find its way into electric cars in the future.
Sodium-ion batteries’ market share for passenger EVs is expected to grow as their energy density keeps rising.
Energy density of lithium batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) can reach 250–300 Wh/kg. Batteries used for energy storage typically have an energy density of 180 watt hours per kilogramme.
Diversification In Battery Chemistries Will Be Key In The Ev Shift
Forward-looking, we can anticipate seeing more cars made with sodium-ion batteries when production reaches a larger scale, supply channels are established, and technology advances to increase energy density.
We anticipate that sodium-ion batteries will continue to advance towards mass manufacturing due to their reduced cost, increased safety, and benefits over lithium-ion batteries in the supply chain.
Sodium-based batteries have the ability to supplement lithium-based ones, lessen reliance on a single material, and ease some of the strain on the supply chains for lithium and battery materials, even though we don’t anticipate sodium-ion batteries to surpass lithium-ion ones in the short to medium term. All of this ought to quicken the switch to green energy.