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Hithium Unveils 20,000-Cycle Sodium-Ion Battery and 4MWh BESS
Hithium has launched a new sodium-ion battery cell and a 4MWh BESS, engineered for a 30-year operational life and 20,000 cycles. This represents a significant advancement in the commercialization of sodium-ion technology for large-scale energy storage.
Chinese battery manufacturer Hithium recently introduced a new sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery cell and a corresponding energy storage system (BESS), promising a 30-year operational lifetime. During an online presentation, the ∞Cell N785Ah and the ∞Power N4.0MWh BESS were unveiled by Dr. Aileen Wang, director of Hithium's research institute.
According to Dr. Wang, the objective was to develop a battery that redefines energy storage, especially as lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cost curves begin to flatten. Sodium-ion is seen as a significant growth driver for the future, with the potential to enable energy storage over a much longer timeframe than previously possible.
The ∞Cell N785Ah is designed for a 20,000-cycle service life and supports storage durations between 2 and 8 hours. It is fully compatible with Hithium's existing 1,000Ah lithium-ion manufacturing platform, facilitating rapid mass production. The ∞Power N4.0MWh BESS, which utilizes these cells, features an original sodium-ion architecture with a stacked cell design and a dedicated battery management system (BMS) capable of estimating state of charge (SoC) with 2.5% accuracy. The system is compatible with 800V-1500V power conversion systems (PCS).
Hithium overcame various challenges in developing this long-life Na-ion solution. This included controlling impurities in cathode materials, combining high specific capacity with fast anode kinetics, and gaining a better understanding of interfacial reactions in the electrolyte. The company developed a high phase-purity, high compaction-density sodium iron phosphate pyrophosphate (NFPP) cathode material with increased conductivity, resulting in reduced costs and higher energy density. For the anode, a hard carbon material was developed that combines ultra-low expansion with high-rate performance and an extended calendar life. The electrolyte was also specifically formulated for sodium-ion, featuring improved ion diffusion and a lowered desolvation barrier.
At the manufacturing level, Hithium developed three core capabilities: ultra-thick electrode coatings to offset sodium-ion's energy density disadvantages, long-life structural components capable of handling expansion and contraction over 20,000 cycles, and large-format cell stacking technology to overcome bottlenecks in Na-ion production. Hithium aims to utilize many of the same manufacturing processes as its lithium-ion battery lines, while leveraging abundant materials that are decoupled from global lithium battery supply chains.
This launch underscores the progress in the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries for stationary BESS applications, driven by Chinese Li-ion battery OEMs. Hithium claims to be the first to market with a Na-ion cell specifically designed for utility-scale BESS, the ∞Cell N162Ah NFPP, launched in December 2024. Other Chinese players such as CATL, BYD, HiNa, and Envision, as well as international startups, have also introduced sodium-ion products. For instance, CATL signed a 60GWh sodium-ion battery supply deal in April and showcased the sodium-ion version of its TENER BESS unit at Intersolar Europe in June.
Source: Energy-Storage.News
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