🔋 Northvolt's new battery needs less rare minerals

🔋 Northvolt's new battery needs less rare minerals

Unlike traditional battery chemistries, the new battery from Northvolt utilizes readily available minerals such as iron and sodium.

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  • Swedish battery maker Northvolt introduces a sodium-ion battery with high energy density.
  • New cell technology offers safer, cost-effective energy storage solutions.
  • The capability to utilize locally sourced materials opens avenues for developing new regional battery manufacturing capacities, independent of traditional battery value chains.

Sodium-ion: A sustainable choice

Unlike traditional battery chemistries, the new battery from Northvolt utilizes readily available minerals such as iron and sodium. This cell is based on a hard carbon anode and a Prussian White-based cathode, distinctively excluding lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite from its composition.

Validated at an energy density of over 160 watt-hours per kilogram at Northvolt Labs in Västerås, Sweden.

Prussian White. Image: Northvolt.

The sodium-ion technology is poised to lay the groundwork for Northvolt's next-generation energy storage solutions. Its affordability and high-temperature safety features make it particularly suitable for markets like India, the Middle East, and Africa.

Furthermore, the capability to utilize locally sourced materials opens avenues for developing new regional battery manufacturing capacities, independent of traditional battery value chains.

Expanding applications and future prospects

Primarily designed for energy storage applications, Northvolt's first-generation sodium-ion cell is expected to be followed by versions with higher energy densities. These future generations promise to facilitate cost-efficient electric mobility solutions, complementing Northvolt’s existing product portfolio of lithium-ion and lithium-metal battery technologies.

Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt, emphasizes the technology's potential in enhancing renewable power generation.

Peter Carlsson. Image: Northvolt.

“Our sodium-ion technology delivers the performance required to enable energy storage with longer duration than alternative battery chemistries, at a lower cost, thereby opening new pathways to deploying renewable power generation. The potential of sodium-ion in this market alone will make a tremendous impact in the drive towards global electrification.”

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