Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Sodium-ion batteries: Impact and additionality

A hedge on lithium, but made almost entirely in China

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.

Sodium-ion offers a hedge against lithium supply risk and a safer, cheaper-material battery for South Asian markets, but its manufacturing is even more concentrated in China than lithium-ion.

Grid decarbonisation versus fossil displacement

Favourable

Like LFP, sodium-ion shifts solar output by a few hours and displaces evening gas or coal generation; it does not provide multi-day storage. Its main system value is diversifying supply away from lithium, which would make large-scale storage less exposed to lithium price spikes. Global production capacity was about 70 GWh a year by the end of 2025, with about 400 GWh expected by 2030 (IRENA gives both 'nearly' and 'more than' 400 GWh).12

Production capacity (2025) about 70 GWh/yr1 Expected capacity (2030) about 400 GWh/yr1 Cell manufacturing capacity relative to lithium-ion (2026) just over 1%2

Just transition and local community impact

Mixed

China held 99.4% of the 42 GWh of global sodium-ion capacity in 2023 and Chinese firms hold much of the intellectual property. Raw materials are widely available, which in principle lets India and others build complete supply chains without imported lithium. In India, Jitendra EV plans sodium-ion two-wheelers by 2026. Soda ash mining and salt-based synthesis have far lighter social footprints than cobalt or lithium extraction.13

China share of sodium-ion capacity (2023) 99.4% of 42 GWh3

Circular economy and end of life

Mixed

No recycling-rate data exist yet. The materials (sodium, iron, manganese, aluminium, carbon) are cheap, so recovered value is low and recycling may need tolling fees under producer responsibility rules, as for LFP. IRENA says lifecycle impact per kWh could be comparable to the best lithium-ion and generally better than most NMC. EU battery rules apply in full.1211

Sources

  1. Sodium-ion batteries: Technology brief IRENA, 2025
  2. Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle batteries International Energy Agency, 2026
  3. Energy resilience of households in a prepared union: the potential of a sodium battery-based solution (study by Milieu, WSP and CE Delft) European Economic and Social Committee, 2026
  4. Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries (Official Journal text) EUR-Lex, 2023