On Tuesday (November 21) local time, Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt announced on its official website that it has launched an advanced sodium-ion battery. After laboratory verification, the energy density of this battery exceeds 160 Wh/kg. The press release claims that this sodium-ion battery is safer, more cost-effective and sustainable than traditional nickel-cobalt-manganese (NMC) and iron-phosphate (LFP) systems because it uses minerals such as iron and sodium that are more abundant on the market as raw materials.
Prussian white cathode
Northvolt revealed that the battery is composed of a hard carbon anode and a Prussian white cathode and does not contain lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. The company plans to use this breakthrough in design and manufacturing to become the first to industrialize and commercialize Prussian white batteries.
Prussian white belongs to the Prussian blue family of compounds and is called Prussian white because it contains high sodium and appears white. It is currently the most promising cathode material for sodium-ion batteries with commercial application prospects.
According to a press release, the technology was developed jointly with Altris, a Swedish research institute. The company noted that the low cost and safety at high temperatures make the technology particularly attractive for energy storage solutions in emerging markets such as India, the Middle East and Africa.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and co-founder of Northvolt, wrote: "This is an important milestone for the company. Battery technology like this is critical to achieving global sustainability goals as it can make electrification more cost-effective, sustainable and accessible around the world."
'Potentially worth tens of billions of dollars'
The press release stated that Northvolt's first-generation sodium-ion battery will be mainly used for energy storage, and subsequent generations of products can provide higher energy density, which is expected to provide opportunities for battery solutions for electric vehicles.
It is understood that the energy density of lithium batteries used in electric vehicles is 250 to 300 Wh/kg, and there is still a significant gap compared with sodium-ion batteries.
Carlsson said in the latest media interview that the company's sodium-ion batteries will be about a quarter cheaper than the lithium batteries used for energy storage. Replacing graphite with hard carbon would also not only reduce the carbon footprint of a sodium-ion battery, but also allow it to withstand up to three times the heat of a lithium-ion battery, he added.
Northvolt was founded in 2017. In the fiercely competitive battery field, this startup is already the largest battery manufacturer in Europe.
According to media reports, the company has received orders for electric vehicle batteries worth US$55 billion. Carlsson said, "This new technology could be worth tens of billions of dollars." He estimated that in 10 years, energy storage orders may be equal to or larger than automobile orders.
The media quoted external experts as saying that in the field of sodium-ion batteries, Northvolt's technology is even more advanced. Experts say CATL's sodium-ion batteries use compounds containing elements such as nickel, cobalt or manganese, which will make the battery more expensive and may lag behind Northvolt's products in terms of safety.
Northvolt expects to deliver first samples to customers next year and reach full production by 2030. Last month, it was reported that the company had officially sent invitations to a number of investment banks to participate in IPO transactions, and the company's current valuation may be close to US$20 billion.
Iola Hughes, research manager at market research firm RhoMotion, believes whether and how quickly Northvolt's sodium-ion batteries can succeed will depend on the price of lithium batteries.
Hughes said, "The recent downturn in lithium prices has made the cost benefits of sodium ions less obvious, investors are less enthusiastic than last year, and some future developments in the sodium ion supply chain may be delayed or even cancelled."