10 billion! Another sodium battery factory "settled" in the United States

On August 15 local time, Natron Energy, Inc. ("Natron"), a leader in sodium-ion battery technology, announced plans to invest nearly $1.4 billion (about 10 billion yuan) to build a sodium-ion battery factory in North Carolina.

The plant will be located in Edgecombe County and is expected to have an annual capacity of 24GW, which will expand Natron's current production capacity by 40 times and will become the first sodium-ion battery super factory in the United States.

It is reported that part of the funding for the project comes from the Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee. JDIG has agreed that Natron may receive up to $21.75 million in compensation over 12 years. At the same time, Natron and the state government also plan to apply for a $30 million grant from a new state funding program to help prepare or upgrade industrial sites that meet the requirements.

According to information, Natron Energy was founded in 2012 by Colin Wesssels, a Ph.D. from Stanford University. In 2020, Natron became the world's first sodium-ion battery manufacturer to obtain UL 1973 certification, and began commercial shipments to customers in the data center, forklift and electric vehicle fast charging markets.

Natron claims that its patented Prussian blue electrodes can store and transfer sodium ions faster and have lower internal resistance than any other commercial battery on the market today. The company's sodium battery chemistry exhibits zero strain during charge and discharge, cycles 10 times faster than traditional lithium-ion batteries , and has a cycle life of more than 50,000 cycles.

BluePack battery (Photo/Natron)

In addition to the North Carolina plant that is about to be built, Natron's Holland, Michigan plant also opened recently. This is the first sodium battery manufacturing plant in North America with an annual production capacity of 600MW.

In terms of financing, Natron has received significant public and private financing, including grants from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and investments from strategic customers such as Chevron and Nabors Industries.

Natron's investors (Photo/Natron)