Sodium ion batteries - What do they mean for battery energy storage systems?

There are differences between LFP and SIB that impact overall costs. The main one is the lower energy density of SIB. A 20-foot containerized SIB BESS system can ship 2.36 MWh with liquid cooling, while a 45-foot containerized system can ship 3.61 MWh with air cooling.

While SIB can achieve a lower price per kwh at the cell level, it does not compensate for the lower energy that can be fit inside a container within the existing standard BESS architecture. Under this approach, future SIB BESS projects would be more expensive than LFP based projects with 2023 LFP cell prices

• Lithium-Ion Batteries

• Lead-Acid Batteries

• Flow Batteries (e.g., Vanadium Redox)

• Sodium-Based Batteries

• Nickel-Based Batteries

• Solid-State Batteries (Emerging)

Sodium Ion Batteries (also called SIBs, NIBs, or Na-ion batteries) are rechargeable batteries that are similar in their operating principle (‘rocking chair’ design) to Lithium Ion Batteries (LIB) but employ different materials in their construction. Outwardly, SIB and LIB cells have the same form factor (cylindrical, prismatic, pouch) and structure (coated electrodes, electrolyte, tabs). SIBs have the advantages of being made from cheaper, widely available materials1 , and — depending on the cathode chemistry — potentially also being safer than LIBs2 including the LFP chemistry, the most common LIB chemistry for BESS. SIBs are intermediate in energy density between LIBs and the traditional lead acid batteries, which are still widely used in backup battery and consumer market applications for their low price. The wider expectation is for SIB to substitute for LIB in low end EVs, e-bikes, and potentially BESS, where energy density can be traded off for price