The "first mover" of new energy competition

Author：MarwenDate：2023-8-16

         In recent years, my country's new energy vehicle industry has developed vigorously, and its market share has been rising steadily. Many "Made in China" new energy vehicles are selling well in Europe and the United States. While realizing the "curve overtaking" of the automobile manufacturing industry, it has also accumulated its own technology Advantage. Under the tandem connection of the new energy automobile industry, from upstream bulk raw materials to midstream battery and motor production, to downstream charging piles and charging station construction... core technologies such as photovoltaics, batteries, and semiconductors have also developed rapidly, strengthening the Our country's scientific and technological innovation strength also gives us more confidence in the future new energy competition.

         With the development and popularization of cleaner and more efficient new energy technologies, the problem of energy gap in the future is becoming increasingly prominent. The most typical manifestation at the moment is the sharp rise in the price of lithium ore. Zheng Mianping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, once pointed out that "my country's lithium resource dependence on foreign countries remains high, and there is a large gap in future demand." According to academician Zheng Mianping's estimation, only considering the domestic demand for lithium electric vehicles and energy storage, the gap between my country's lithium carbonate supply and demand will reach 2025 It will reach 150,000 tons per year and 350,000 tons in 2030.

         A large number of domestic technology energy storage companies have turned to the new track of sodium-ion batteries one after another. The core problem to be solved is the "stuck neck" problem of new energy raw materials. However, it is still subject to many constraints. The addition of sodium-ion batteries will undoubtedly give the new energy industry "one more choice". According to the patent analysis tool data of LexisNexis, an American intellectual property information service provider, as of December last year, the number of patents for alternative technology to lithium-ion batteries was 9,862, of which China ranked first with 5,486 patents, accounting for 50% of the total patents. above.

         At present, my country has made remarkable achievements in the research and development of key technologies of sodium-ion batteries, material preparation, battery production and application, and ranks among the top in the world. In terms of core technologies, China has mastered technologies such as the production of sodium-ion soft-pack batteries, increasing the energy density of sodium-ion batteries, and developing sodium-ion batteries with good low-temperature performance. The preparation and supply of positive and negative electrode materials for sodium-ion batteries has reached 100 tons class. In terms of battery systems, Chinese companies have developed a lithium-sodium mix-and-match solution, which mixes and matches sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries in a certain proportion and integrates them into the same battery system. This solution not only effectively solves the disadvantages of sodium-ion batteries in terms of energy density, but also highlights the advantages of sodium-ion batteries in terms of power and performance. In terms of technology application, China has applied sodium-ion batteries to two-wheeled electric vehicles, A00-class electric vehicles and other fields.

         Xiao Jinsong, director of the Material Industry Research Institute of the CCID Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and a senior engineer, believes that the wide application of sodium-ion batteries will alleviate the limited development of new energy caused by the shortage of lithium resources to a certain extent, and improve the clean energy industry. Utilization rate helps to achieve the double carbon target. Large-scale energy storage power stations built with sodium-ion batteries will also enhance the economics of grid operation by smoothing the load curve.

         In the future, sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries will gradually form a hierarchical market layout, effectively filling the energy storage gap in the new energy era. Today, many domestic high-tech energy storage companies are taking the lead on the new track, which is just the "first move" to deal with the future.