Natron Energyin Santa Clara, California Sodium-ion Battery launch, Continuation of work September 3 from financing issues. Just a year ago, the company got into the headlines of headlines for its Plans To build a first -a -kind factory of 1.4 billion US dollars in North Carolin for production up to 14 gigavat hours sodium-ion batteriesThe field while experts say that the closure of the nan is not considered as a harbinger for the rest New industry In the United States, they admit that the West is behind China, which uses it Domination In Lithuania-Ion batteries To rise forward in the production of sodium batteries.
In the United States, sodium startups, such as Natron, which was launched in 2012, as a rule, rely on goodwill from the sponsors, says Km AbrahamA pensioner professor of research at the North -East University in Boston and Technical Director Lithium-ion battery Consulting company E-Kem SciencesThis can create problems for companies in financing terms ahead of innovation.
“Companies cannot achieve progress quickly enough to keep up with the pressure provided by investors,” he says.
Innovative Prussian Blue Battle of Natron
Until recently, Natron was considered the leader of the pack in the US sodium ions. Part of the attractiveness of the company was an innovative approach to inexpensive electrodes, conductors on positive and negative batteries, which come into contact with the non -metallic part of the scheme. The company used Prussian bluePigment found in paints and dyes to make both a cathode and the anode for it Three batteriesField In addition to the low cost of the material, the chemical structure of Prussian blue has great pores, which helps it alleviate the faster transfer of ions between the electrodes.
Natron was The first in the world For commercialization of sodium battery using Prussian blue, a real feat, taking into account Chinese battery production, says Tyler Evansco -founder and general director Mana batteryBrowomfield, Colorado, launch of sodium ions battery, which was launched in 2023.
“They did this in the West, and they scaled a technology that was a relatively low energy density for a very specific market segment,” says Evans about Natron products.
Mana is one startup of the United States dedicated to the withdrawal of sodium batteries to the market.Nicholas Singstock/Which
This market is included Storage gridReserve copies of the data center for processing and electric car Charger stations are more high stationary applications on a scale, where attributes such as safety and cost are higher than the density of energy. The success of Natron in this space, including his plans for the plant in North Carolin, raised questions about whether sodium ion could become a direct replacement of lithium-ion batteries. United Airlines And Chevron We were on the list of investors of Natron.
But Evans says that the scale of the product with low density energy when creating production lines is expensive. “If you think about the creation of a production facility where you want to produce 10 gigavatmal batteries, if your energy density is very low, producing an equivalent number of batteries requires more production lines,” says Evans.
“If you think about the creation of a production facility where you want to produce gigavatt-hour production capacity, if your energy density on the battery is very low, productivity that requires more production lines,” says Evans, which means significantly more capital and operational expenses in the already capital-consuming, undertaken.
In 2023, Natron systems entered the market. Company in partnership with Ecol To deploy The first multi -storey class of class for industrial applications in the industry. A year later, in 2024, nbron Opened The first production enterprise on a commercial scale in the USA in Holland, Michigan Data processing centers With Energy storageField of the US Department of Energy Arpa-E program Provided 19.8 million dollars For a nBR as part of the modernization of the facility for 300 million dollars before the transition from the production of lithium-ion batteries to the production of sodium ions battery. This facility closed its doors simultaneously with the headquarters of Natron in California on September 3.
A request for a comment from Natron led to an automatic message to contact the company Primary shareholderSherwood partners. Sherwood Partners did not respond to a request about the comments.
Sodium ion against lithium-ion-ion costs for the battery
Adrian Yao Founder and team of the head of Stanford The chopper initiativeResearch program funded by the Ministry of Energy. He is also the author of January 2025 paper Assessment of how sodium batteries are ion batteries correspond to lithium-ion batteries in terms of technology and costs.
While it was impressed by Natron's technologies and the product, he says that the company may have been ahead of the niche of the market for processing centers that it cut out for itself. “Hypers right now their main task is only the connection and creation of data processing centers,” says Yao. “I think that time in this cycle can be early, and this, unfortunately, will not always work.”
Natron joins Stanford rotation Field materials like the second company sodium Fold this year. Bedrock referred to market and innovative problems for his April closure.
“The business battery is very complicated. There are many tombstones, ”says Andrew ThomasPresident and co -founder Acculon EnergyColumbus, Ohio Startup Marketing Marketing Two batteries with sodium cells for industrial energy and Electric cars who travel at low speeds like golf The carts, unlike Natron, Acculon, which was launched in 2022, uses more traditional layered metal oxides and other sodium chemical data.
Thomas says that it is this difference that makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the industry of sodium US ions as a whole in the light of the closure of the napron. Comparison of various sodium ions, such as Prussian blue or layered metals oxides, is similar to comparing apples with oranges.
“I don’t think that one failure is a representative that the country is unable, but we are in a significant disadvantage, given the established base in China,” says Thomas.
China is a dominant player in the development of sodium ion batteries, and companies such as Catl demonstrate their projects in Tech Expos.Yuan Zhen/VCG/AP
Domination of China in the production of batteries
China has long been dominated by the batteries industry, and sodium batteries are no exception. Today, China produces more than 75 percent of batteries sold worldwide, according to International Energy AgencyField at the front of sodium ions, developers like Cats moved to the second -generation battery with April launch Naxtra, brand focused on EV applications.
Yao says that he would like to see how the United States has focused on creating its production skill to compete with China. “My wider criticism of the Western hemisphere from the point of view of our thinking and obsession with attempts to introduce ourselves from the problem is that we are too focused on technology,” says Yao. “We have very little production experience … Our profitability indicators are terrible, and our labor force is not trained.”
The founders, such as Evans and Thomas, look optimistic about their potential customers, since the growing demand for storage of the grid, data processing centers and inexpensive applications for mobility leads to the need for applications, according to them, sodium batteries are unique to support from the point of view of the temperature range, safety and indicators costs. When it comes to production, Mana takes a page from China's PlayBook, cooperating with existing manufacturers to scaling production.
Evans says that now in the USA there is an appetite for such a partnership. “I think this is a sweet place of commercialization specific to sodium.”
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