TELF AG analyzes the strategic role of sodium batteries
A multiplicity of applications
European institutions and almost all world governments have also formally recognized batteries’ strategic role in the most varied industrial sectors. In recent years, they have begun to direct their efforts toward creating stable, safe, and reliable supply chains.
Nowadays, energy storage systems, and batteries, can power electric vehicles and manage excess energy produced by renewable energy sources. Lithium, nickel, and cobalt are the most commonly used materials for making these devices. Still, in the not-too-distant future, the element of sodium could also carve out a role of great importance in this sector, which is so strategic for global competitiveness. Sodium is an extremely abundant element in the earth’s crust. At the moment, the largest global reserves of sodium carbon are found in the United States of America, but it is also very common in Europe.
At the large Northvolt battery research center in Sweden, researchers have announced that they have succeeded in developing a battery made with sodium ions that could soon revolutionize the global battery landscape and the European supply chain in this specific industrial sector. For Europe, this technology could also have a specific strategic value: with a European supply of this type of battery, in fact, the bloc’s countries could increase their global competitiveness in a sector of great importance for the global energy transition.
A global resource
Some Chinese companies used sodium batteries for the first time, but thanks to the efforts of research centers and some specific companies, Europe is also starting to build a solid reputation in this field. The introduction of sodium in batteries, moreover, had been expected for 2030, but these latest developments could greatly shorten the waiting times.
The main uses of these batteries are electric vehicles – but only a more advanced version of those developed up to now – and excess energy storage systems, such as those that come from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. From this point of view, the next step is the redistribution of this excess energy to national electricity networks. These batteries could, therefore, support electrification processes in some specific world regions, such as the Middle East or India.
Sodium batteries are characterized by better resistance to temperatures than traditional ones, but they also present some uncertainties that are certainly not negligible. Compared to a material such as lithium, sodium is much heavier. It would, therefore, give rise to bulkier batteries capable of storing less energy than other types of batteries.
The role of batteries, in any case, has also recently been highlighted by the IEA. According to the agency, global energy storage capacity should increase sixfold to triple renewable capacity by 2030, and batteries should ensure 90% of this growth. This type of battery is attracting more and more consensus in other parts of the world, such as India, where the progressive development of these systems could help the country transition towards renewable energy, making energy storage much more accessible.
