Acceleration in the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries

Securities Daily reporter Li Wanchenxi

On April 6, the Hu Yongsheng team from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a major breakthrough in Nature Energy. The team successfully developed a polymerizable nonflammable electrolyte (PNE) with a self-protection function, achieving for the first time globally a complete shutdown of thermal runaway in an ampere-hour-class sodium-ion battery. This has broken through a key safety bottleneck for the commercial rollout of sodium-ion batteries.

“This R&D achievement lays a solid foundation for the commercial rollout of sodium-ion batteries in areas such as electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage.” Zhang Xiang, Secretary General of the International Intelligent Transportation Technology Association and a visiting professor at Huanghe Science and Technology College, said in an interview with Securities Daily. “Against the backdrop of intensifying shortages and imbalances in lithium resource supply and demand and rising demand for energy security, sodium batteries are coming to a historic turning point toward commercialization and scale due to their core advantages such as abundant resources, controllable costs, and excellent safety. They are expected to form a new landscape of offset competition and complementary development with lithium batteries, accelerating the reshaping of the global new energy industry.”

Since last year, China’s sodium-ion battery core technology has continued to achieve breakthroughs, providing core support for commercial rollout. Previously, the team from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences / the National Research Center for Condensed Matter Physics proposed a strategy to build a conductive confinement network of single-walled carbon nanotubes, offering an expandable practical pathway for developing next-generation high-energy-density sodium-ion batteries. In addition, the academician Chen Zhongwei team from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences made new progress in interfacial modification research for all-solid-state sodium-ion batteries. Their innovation proposed an interface repair strategy of electively induced accelerated polymerization, effectively addressing problems faced by solid-state electrolyte separators during application, such as interfacial instability, air sensitivity, and susceptibility to cracking.

“At present, China’s sodium-ion battery industry has achieved diversified layout and can fully meet application needs in different scenarios such as energy storage and power batteries, laying a solid foundation for scaled and commercial development.” Gao Chengyuan, Chairman and CEO of Zhuwang Marketing Consulting, said in an interview with Securities Daily.

“From the perspective of commercial application scenarios, the comparative advantages of sodium-ion batteries in sub-sectors such as energy storage and power batteries continue to stand out.” Guo Tao, Vice Director of the China Center for International Commerce Expert Services, said in an interview with Securities Daily. According to data from SPIR (StartUp Research Institute), in 2025, global shipments of sodium-ion batteries reached 9 GWh. Of this, shipments of sodium-ion energy storage batteries were 5.6 GWh, accounting for 62.2%.

From the perspective of capital, the heat in the sodium-ion battery sector has continued to rise. On April 7 of this year, Shenzhen Jialan Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announced that it has completed a multi-billion-yuan financing round in A+. The financing will focus on enabling technology iteration of the company’s key sodium-ion battery materials, capacity expansion, and global market expansion. On December 9, 2025, Wuxi Naoke Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announced that it had completed strategic financing of tens of millions of yuan in an A round. The financing will mainly be used to build an annual 1 GWh new battery system integration production line and an annual 10k tons production line for high-performance sodium-ion battery cathode materials, along with the construction of a research and development center.

“In the future, sodium-ion batteries will continue to increase their commercial penetration rates in fields such as energy storage and low-speed transportation, and will gradually expand into broader scenarios such as mid-to-high-end power applications and special energy storage.” Wu Zewei, a special research fellow at SuShang Bank, said in an interview with Securities Daily.

Driven by multiple favorable factors, companies across the sodium-ion battery industry chain have rushed to seize opportunities and make arrangements, stepping up technological research and development.

Recently, Huizhou EVE Energy Co., Ltd. stated on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s interactive platform that in September 2025, its first set of large-capacity sodium-ion battery energy storage system successfully connected to the grid and completed commissioning at its Jingmen base, officially entering the commercial operation stage. In addition, the groundbreaking ceremony for EVE Naien’s headquarters project was held in December 2025. After the park is completed, it will become a leading sodium-ion battery industrialization base in China.

On September 8, 2025, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) announced that its self-developed sodium-ion battery passed the “Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles” (GB38031-2025) certification, becoming the world’s first sodium-ion power battery to obtain certification under the new national standard.

A spokesperson for Guangzhou Penghui Energy Technology Co., Ltd. said that based on sodium products in different forms, the company can achieve differentiated performance. For example, for cylindrical sodium, the structure uses an all-tabless electrode design, and by applying superconducting SP, it realizes a composite of graphene and magnetic nanoparticles, achieving continuous high-rate discharge at 20C to meet application needs in sub-sectors such as start-stop requirements.

Cao Zhe, Chief Investment Officer of Beijing Aivnzhilue Investment Management Co., Ltd., said in an interview with Securities Daily that listed companies in the sodium-ion battery industry chain need to focus on core technologies, with key breakthroughs aimed at bottlenecks in cathode material performance and optimizing electrolyte and cell compatibility. By leveraging differentiation, they should go deep into core scenarios such as energy storage and low-speed transportation. They should strengthen coordination across upstream and downstream of the industry chain, strictly control material and production costs, and simultaneously plan for the recycling of sodium-ion battery materials, thereby consolidating a solid foundation for scaled profitability. This is also a key path for sodium-ion battery companies to break through homogeneous competition and achieve sustainable development.