# High-temperature batteries: Impact and additionality

A proven non-lithium fleet now losing its only maker

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/sg-impact/

What this tab covers The impact and additionality lens: what it displaces on the grid, who gains and who bears the burden along the supply chain, and what happens at end of life.

NaS showed that a non-lithium battery could run at GWh scale for two decades, but with its main maker exiting, new investment exposure is mostly to legacy fleets and to a few ZEBRA developers.

#### Grid decarbonisation versus fossil displacement
Mixed

At 6 to 8 hours, NaS covers the evening peak and can displace gas peakers, which Lazard puts at USD 144 to 276/MWh in the US (2026). The installed base of more than 250 sites and about 5 GWh, including 50 MW / 300 MWh at Buzen and 108 MW / 648 MWh in Abu Dhabi, is small next to lithium-ion, which a 2023 BASF presentation put at 55 GWh installed worldwide.^[1](https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/05/japans-ngk-discontinues-manufacturing-of-sodium-sulfur-batteries/)^[2](https://promo.basf.com/Documentos/BASF_NAS_Brochure (1).pdf)^[3](https://assets-002.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/naatbatt/Workshop_Materials/Zinc/2023/9_Florian-Dotz_FINAL-UPDATE-NAATBatt-Houston_Nov30th-2023.pdf)^[13](https://www.lazard.com/media/kcfconhf/lazards-lcoeplus_vf.pdf)
 NaS installed base More than 250 sites, about 5 GWh^[1](https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/05/japans-ngk-discontinues-manufacturing-of-sodium-sulfur-batteries/)^[2](https://promo.basf.com/Documentos/BASF_NAS_Brochure (1).pdf) Gas peaker LCOE, US 2026 USD 144-276/MWh^[13](https://www.lazard.com/media/kcfconhf/lazards-lcoeplus_vf.pdf) Lithium-ion installed (BASF comparison, 2023 presentation, undated figure) 55 GWh^[3](https://assets-002.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/naatbatt/Workshop_Materials/Zinc/2023/9_Florian-Dotz_FINAL-UPDATE-NAATBatt-Houston_Nov30th-2023.pdf)

#### Just transition and local community impact
Mixed

Manufacturing was concentrated in one NGK plant in Japan, with about 150 MW a year of capacity; that work is ending. Raw materials (sodium, sulphur, alumina) come from established chemical industries rather than new mines. The main European ZEBRA-type project, Altech's CERENERGY factory at Schwarze Pumpe in Saxony, developed with Fraunhofer IKTS, was abandoned in Jul 2026 after Altech failed to find a partner or financing, despite German grant eligibility; Fraunhofer keeps the patents and says it will continue the technology.^[1](https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/05/japans-ngk-discontinues-manufacturing-of-sodium-sulfur-batteries/)^[10](https://www.energy-storage.news/ngks-nas-sodium-sulfur-grid-scale-batteries-in-depth/)^[18](https://www.cleanthinking.de/cerenergy-fabrik-eingestellt/)
 NGK factory capacity About 150 MW a year^[10](https://www.energy-storage.news/ngks-nas-sodium-sulfur-grid-scale-batteries-in-depth/)

#### Circular economy and end of life
Mixed

Independent recycling data are scarce. Fuji Electric describes its sodium metal chloride battery as 100% recyclable and free of conflict minerals, a manufacturer claim not independently verified. NaS cells are sealed steel units whose sodium, sulphur and steel have established markets, but they must be handled as reactive waste. NGK will keep supplying maintenance parts for systems delivered or scheduled for delivery. EU Regulation 2023/1542 sets 90% recovery of nickel by 2027 and 95% by 2031, and requires a digital passport for industrial batteries above 2 kWh from 18 Feb 2027.^[1](https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/05/japans-ngk-discontinues-manufacturing-of-sodium-sulfur-batteries/)^[7](https://smbe.fujielectric.com/salt-battery)^[14](https://www.sgs.com/en/news/2023/09/safeguards-11523-eu-issues-new-regulation-on-batteries-and-waste-batteries)^[15](https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1754181)
 EU nickel recovery target 90% by 2027; 95% by 2031^[15](https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1754181) EU battery passport start 18 Feb 2027^[14](https://www.sgs.com/en/news/2023/09/safeguards-11523-eu-issues-new-regulation-on-batteries-and-waste-batteries)

#### Sources

1. [Japan's NGK discontinues manufacturing of sodium-sulfur batteries (5 Nov 2025)](https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/11/05/japans-ngk-discontinues-manufacturing-of-sodium-sulfur-batteries/) pv magazine / ESS News, 2025
2. [NAS Battery: product sheet (container specifications and references), dated 02/2024](https://promo.basf.com/Documentos/BASF_NAS_Brochure (1).pdf) BASF Stationary Energy Storage, 2024
3. [Sodium Sulfur Batteries NAS for Large Stationary Storage Applications: The time is right! (F. Dötz, NAATBatt Sodium Zinc Battery Workshop, Houston, 30 Nov 2023)](https://assets-002.noviams.com/novi-file-uploads/naatbatt/Workshop_Materials/Zinc/2023/9_Florian-Dotz_FINAL-UPDATE-NAATBatt-Houston_Nov30th-2023.pdf) BASF Stationary Energy Storage / NAATBatt, 2023
4. [Salt Battery (sodium metal chloride): product page (manufacturer claims)](https://smbe.fujielectric.com/salt-battery) Fuji SMBE (Fuji Electric group), 2025
5. [NGK's NAS sodium sulfur grid-scale batteries in depth](https://www.energy-storage.news/ngks-nas-sodium-sulfur-grid-scale-batteries-in-depth/) Energy-Storage.news, 2016
6. [Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy+ (LCOE+), July 2026 (LCOS v11.0 key assumptions p. 38; LCOE v19.0 assumptions p. 28)](https://www.lazard.com/media/kcfconhf/lazards-lcoeplus_vf.pdf) Lazard, 2026
7. [SafeGuardS 115/23: EU issues new regulation on batteries and waste batteries (summary of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542)](https://www.sgs.com/en/news/2023/09/safeguards-11523-eu-issues-new-regulation-on-batteries-and-waste-batteries) SGS, 2023
8. [Batteries and waste batteries: summary of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542](https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1754181) European Parliament Legislative Observatory, 2023
9. [Altech stellt Cerenergy-Batteriefabrik in Schwarze Pumpe ein (Altech halts CERENERGY battery factory, 5 Aug 2026)](https://www.cleanthinking.de/cerenergy-fabrik-eingestellt/) CleanThinking, 2026

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and technology](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/sg-sci/index.md)
- [Engineering and performance](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/sg-eng/index.md)
- [Economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/sg-econ/index.md)
- [What to track](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/tracking/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hightemp_batt/links/index.md)