Lithium-sodium synergy accelerates the "beachhead" in the energy storage market

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On April 1st, at the 14th International Energy Storage Summit and Exhibition, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) (hereinafter referred to as “CATL”) presented for the first time an energy storage sodium-ion battery under the theme “Sodium-Lithium Dual Stars Building All-Scenario Energy Storage Solutions.” Its cycle life exceeds 15,000 cycles, and it can cover large-scale energy storage scenarios from 2 to 8 hours as well as AIDC energy storage scenarios. CATL plans to achieve commercialization and implementation within this year.

Zhang Xiang, a visiting professor at Yellow River Institute of Science and Technology, told Securities Daily that the energy storage market is currently in a breakout period. At the same time, industry technology iteration is accelerating, with large cell batteries becoming the mainstream trend, and lithium-sodium coordinated deployment becoming a consensus among leading enterprises.

According to sources familiar with CATL, since the company’s 587Ah high-capacity energy storage cell was released in 2025, its mass production progress has attracted significant attention. The cumulative shipments of this cell have already exceeded 5gWh. Mass production work is supported by the “Lighthouse Factory + Zero Carbon Factory” in Jining, Shandong. Daily production capacity exceeds 220,000 units, and the cell defect rate is controlled at the PPB (parts per billion) level.

The sodium-ion batteries for energy storage showcased this time and the 587Ah lithium batteries use the same shell-based platform design. Battery capacity reaches 300+Ah, energy conversion efficiency is 97%, and they can achieve the maximum system compatibility for both lithium and sodium batteries, laying the foundation for lithium-sodium coordinated applications.

Previously, in April 2025, CATL released its “NaXin” sodium-ion battery, which has already been deployed in areas including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and heavy-duty trucks.

Zhang Xiang said that sodium batteries have advantages such as low cost and good low-temperature performance. However, lithium batteries still offer greater advantages in energy and volume. Therefore, currently, all leading companies are deploying lithium-sodium coordinated development to further improve and expand the application scenarios of new energy batteries.

On the application side, the grid-side benchmark project Buerhantu 400MW/2400MWh independent energy storage power station in Baotou, Inner Mongolia has already been connected to the grid, making it one of the largest domestic grid-side independent energy storage projects. This project is the first to apply CATL’s 587Ah cells in batch. Compared with the traditional 314Ah solution, the number of components is reduced by about 40%, system energy density is significantly improved, and construction and operations & maintenance costs are effectively lowered.

On the power supply side, the Ningdong Modern Coal Chemical Industry Green Power Park Phase I 300MW/1200MWh energy storage project in Ningxia is currently under intense construction. As the largest power-side energy storage project under construction in Ningxia, this case fully adopts CATL’s 6.25MWh Tianheng system and 587Ah large-cell technology. After completion, it is expected to be able to absorb about 300 million kWh of green electricity per year, providing strong support for green electricity consumption and grid peak regulation for Ningdong’s coal chemical industry.

The “Energy Storage Industry Research White Paper 2026” shows that, as of the end of 2025, China’s total installed capacity of new-type energy storage has exceeded 100GW, accounting for more than 2/3 of the country’s total power energy storage scale. In addition, data from the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Alliance shows that from January to February this year, China’s energy storage battery sales reached 84.8GWh, up 108.9% year on year.

Besides CATL, China Sodium Battery Group has also released a 588Ah sodium-ion large cell. EVE Energy (rights protection) has successfully connected and commissioned its first large-capacity sodium-ion energy storage system at its Jingmen base, entering the stage of commercial operation.

Liu Yong, Secretary-General of the Energy Storage Application Branch of the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association, told Securities Daily that currently, in terms of technical structure, lithium-ion batteries still occupy a dominant position. However, as multiple hundred-megawatt-level long-duration energy storage projects have been put into operation one after another, the technical structure is gradually showing a diversified trend. Through parallel development of multiple technological routes such as solid-state and sodium-ion batteries, the energy storage battery industry can meet the core needs of different application scenarios for energy density, safety, cycle life, and resource constraints. This kind of diversified technological innovation helps the industry get rid of reliance on a single technology route, form a complementary product matrix, break through performance bottlenecks, and lower total lifecycle costs, laying a solid foundation for large-scale commercial applications.

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