Sodium-Ion NFPP: A Safer, More Sustainable Future for Energy Storage

New generation of sodium ion NFPP system energy storage project demonstration power station

Recently, Shanghai Pu Na Energy Technology Co., Ltd., as the leading unit, unveiled the 2024 Shanghai Future Industry Test Field "Unveiling the List and Leading" new energy storage field project, and will carry out the development and research of the "new generation of sodium ion NFPP system energy storage power station", and will complete the demonstration operation of the world's first sodium ion NFPP power station in 2025, and then start the commercial operation of the "safer, ultra-wide temperature, high-rate discharge" new energy storage station.

"The safety of energy storage systems is increasingly valued by all sectors of society and national industry authorities under the background of achieving dual carbon standards and fossil energy transformation. The choice of electrochemical energy storage industry routes must not only consider the long-term advantages in terms of the safety and cost of raw materials, but also solve the intrinsic safety under long-term use conditions. This is a very challenging topic for the global energy storage industry." Xia Yongyao, chief scientist of Shanghai Pu Na Energy Technology Co., Ltd., the leading unit of the NFPP energy storage power station project, and professor of Fudan University, said.

New electrochemical energy storage technologies with high safety, long life and low cost are in urgent need of breakthroughs and rapid industrialization

New energy storage, especially electrochemical energy storage, is an important technology and basic equipment for building a new power system, and is also an important support for my country to achieve the "dual carbon goals" of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The development and industrialization of NFPP energy storage systems not only meet the needs of the country's major strategic goals of "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality", effectively accelerate the development of new energy, but also help reduce my country's energy consumption from coal, oil, natural gas and other non-renewable energy sources. It is conducive to reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide from the source, and helping the country to accelerate the realization of the strategic goals of "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality".

The booming energy storage market can be roughly divided into three parts according to the application scenarios of electrochemical energy storage: front-end meter (FTM) utility-scale installations, especially on the power generation side and grid side; user-side (BTM) commercial and industrial installations; and BTM residential installations.

McKinsey, a well-known multinational consulting firm, predicts that utility-scale electrochemical energy storage (which already accounts for most of the new annual production capacity) will maintain an annual growth of about 29% in the next six years, the fastest growth among the three market segments. By 2030, the market capacity of battery energy storage systems may increase fivefold. By 2030, the annual installed capacity of utility-scale will reach 450 to 620 GWh, and utility-scale electrochemical energy storage will account for 90% of the total market that year. The total global electrochemical energy storage market demand will reach 700GWh, 120 billion to 150 billion US dollars, or about 1 trillion RMB.

The total market demand for energy storage is huge, which poses a huge challenge to the high safety, long life and low cost of energy storage systems. At present, the mainstream electrochemical new energy storage technology mostly adopts mature lithium battery systems. From ternary lithium batteries to lithium iron phosphate, the technology is constantly iterating and the production process is also rapidly improving. However, in the process of global application of lithium-ion energy storage stations, the explosion incidents that occur from time to time have also constantly raised huge questions to the public who are increasingly embracing the transformation to new energy: "Do humans have any safer, lower-cost and more convenient energy storage power stations in the existing technical routes?"

The current technical route for electrochemical energy storage is mainly lithium-ion batteries, but due to the insufficient reserves and geographical distribution of lithium elements, the price of raw materials for lithium-ion batteries fluctuates greatly. The price of raw material lithium carbonate in 2022 will increase by about 10 times compared with the price before 2020, reaching 500,000 yuan/ton at one time. According to data from USGS and the China Geological and Mineral Bureau, global lithium mines are highly concentrated in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Australia, and the lithium resource reserves in the above countries account for more than 70% of the world. my country's lithium resource reserves account for less than 7% of the world's total, and due to the difficulty of mining, high cost and large downstream demand, the lithium resource supply is highly dependent on imports.

Sodium resources are very abundant and evenly distributed and easy to obtain, without the problem of "stuck neck" of resources. Sodium-ion batteries are also low-cost compared to lithium-ion batteries. Compared with lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries have lower volume and weight energy density. Sodium-ion batteries generate less heat in a short circuit, have lower temperature rise, and have a lower thermal runaway temperature than lithium batteries, so they perform well in safety tests. Sodium batteries have undergone rigorous tests such as overcharge, overdischarge, short circuit, puncture, and extrusion, and can be safer and more reliable without catching fire or exploding. Sodium-ion batteries are less affected by extreme environments, especially in low-temperature environments, and have stable performance, making them suitable for use in cold areas.

In the long run, sodium-ion batteries are bound to become an important direction for new energy storage in the future

The development of sodium-ion batteries is also of great significance in alleviating the shortage of lithium resources, reducing dependence on foreign resources, promoting scientific and technological progress, and reducing energy costs. With the advancement of technology and the reduction of costs, the commercial application prospects of sodium-ion batteries are broad, and will have a profound impact on many fields such as the electric vehicle market, energy storage market, and the power industry.

At present, sodium-ion batteries have entered the industrialization stage. The difference in technical routes is mainly due to the difference in positive electrode materials, while the processes of other materials, auxiliary materials, and batteries are basically the same. At present, there are five typical technical routes for positive electrode materials: Shanghai Pu Na Energy Technology Co., Ltd. adopts composite sodium iron phosphate-hard carbon, which has obvious advantages and performance in safety, cycle life, ultra-wide temperature and discharge rate compared with the other four technical routes.

Data analysis shows that in energy storage application scenarios, cycle life has a significant impact on the economy of energy storage systems, and others include charge and discharge efficiency and charge and discharge depth. Obviously, cycle life has the greatest impact on the economy of electrochemical energy storage systems. Pu Na's composite sodium iron phosphate technology route will reach or exceed lithium iron phosphate in cycle life, and has a significant improvement and guarantee in safety compared to lithium batteries; and the cycle life of more than 6000-10000 times under 80% discharge depth conditions, and the charge and discharge efficiency of more than 90% is also far ahead of other technical routes. Compared with the current mainstream lithium iron phosphate in the market, Pu Na's composite sodium iron phosphate technology has obvious advantages in direct raw material cost (BOM) and manufacturing cost. In addition, the ultra-high discharge rate of the NFPP system power station also has great advantages for future power stations in the scenario of fast charging of automobiles.

In addition, the NFPP energy storage power station can operate normally in an environment of minus 45 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius, while the existing energy storage power stations need to consume their own electricity for heating when used in low-temperature environments; in high-temperature environments, the discharge efficiency of traditional power stations is also significantly reduced or they operate abnormally.