CATL and Hithium Sign Massive 60GWh Sodium-Ion Battery Deal

A Single Agreement Ushers in the Sodium-Ion Era

In 2025, the sodium-ion battery sector reached a milestone moment — CATL and leading energy storage system integrator Hithium officially signed a 60GWh sodium-ion battery strategic cooperation agreement. This massive order not only sets a new commercialization record for sodium-ion batteries but also declares in irreversible fashion that sodium-ion technology is transforming from a "laboratory darling" into an "industrial workhorse."

This is not the first time sodium-ion batteries have left the lab, but it marks the critical inflection point where the technology moves from small-batch, multi-scenario trials to large-scale adoption by top-tier customers. When the world's largest battery manufacturer shakes hands with a leading energy storage integrator, the signal could not be clearer — the era of large-scale sodium-ion commercialization has arrived.

What Does 60GWh Mean?

To grasp the weight of this agreement, consider a few key data points.

In all of 2024, China's total sodium-ion battery shipments were still under 10GWh. The 60GWh covered by this single agreement represents several times the cumulative shipment volume of the sodium-ion industry over recent years. Even if delivery is spread across multiple years, the scale is sufficient to catalyze capacity expansion and cost reduction across the entire supply chain.

From a supply chain perspective, the 60GWh order will drive a dramatic surge in demand for upstream cathode materials (Prussian blue/white, layered oxides), anode materials (hard carbon), electrolytes, and related auxiliary materials. The core bottleneck that previously constrained sodium-ion cost reductions — insufficient scale — will be decisively broken by this mega-order.

Equally noteworthy are the identities of the two parties. As the undisputed global leader in power and energy storage batteries, CATL's choice of technology roadmap carries bellwether significance. Hithium, meanwhile, is a top player in China's energy storage system integration space, with unrivaled delivery capabilities and channel resources for large-scale storage projects. The alliance of these two giants constitutes the highest possible endorsement of sodium-ion technology's maturity and commercial viability.

Why Sodium-Ion? Why Now?

Sodium-ion batteries are not a new concept. Basic research on sodium-ion technology began almost in parallel with lithium-ion back in the 1980s, but gaps in energy density and cycle life kept sodium-ion suppressed by lithium-ion for decades. So why is the industry placing large-scale bets on sodium-ion at this moment?

First, resource security and cost logic. Global lithium resources are extremely unevenly distributed, and prices are highly volatile. In 2022, lithium carbonate prices surged to 600,000 RMB per ton before falling sharply, but the fragility of the supply chain was fully exposed. Sodium is approximately 1,000 times more abundant than lithium in the Earth's crust and is evenly distributed globally, making raw material costs inherently lower and more stable. For large-scale energy storage applications that are extremely cost-sensitive, sodium-ion's economic advantages are shifting from "theoretically feasible" to "practically viable."

Second, breakthroughs in technical bottlenecks. In recent years, leading companies such as CATL have made significant progress in sodium-ion energy density, cycle life, and low-temperature performance. CATL's first-generation sodium-ion battery has achieved an energy density of 160Wh/kg, a cycle life exceeding 4,000 cycles, and a capacity retention rate above 90% at -20°C. While these metrics still fall short of high-end lithium-ion batteries, they are more than adequate for energy storage, low-speed transportation, and similar applications.

Third, dual drivers of policy and market demand. Under China's "dual carbon" goals, demand for new energy storage installations is growing explosively. By 2024, China's cumulative new energy storage installations exceeded 100GW, and projections suggest this will surpass 400GW by 2030. Such enormous market growth cannot be sustained by lithium-ion technology alone. Sodium-ion, as an important supplement and even partial substitute, has been elevated to strategic priority status. Multiple provinces have explicitly encouraged sodium-ion battery application demonstrations in their energy storage policies.

Three Major Shockwaves for the Energy Storage Industry

The impact of this deal extends far beyond CATL and Hithium, sending ripple effects across the energy storage sector and the broader energy landscape.

Shockwave One: The "Price Anchor" for Lithium-Ion Energy Storage Will Be Redefined

Once sodium-ion batteries achieve mass production at scale, cell costs are expected to drop below 0.2 RMB/Wh, significantly lower than current lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell prices. This will force further price reductions in lithium-ion energy storage and accelerate the decline of overall storage system costs toward the "ultimate threshold" of 0.1 RMB/kWh. For power operators and investors, the economic return models for energy storage projects will be fundamentally rewritten.

Shockwave Two: Supply Chain Restructuring and the Rise of New Players

Sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries differ significantly in their material systems. Sodium-ion batteries do not require lithium ore or graphite anodes, instead using iron-manganese-based cathodes, hard carbon anodes, and other materials. This means a cohort of materials companies that lacked influence in the lithium-ion era now have the opportunity to leapfrog ahead through the sodium-ion wave. At the same time, existing lithium-ion materials giants face the pressure of technology roadmap transitions. The power dynamics of the supply chain are being quietly reshaped.

Shockwave Three: Accelerating AI and Smart Technology Penetration in Energy Storage

Sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries differ in charge-discharge characteristics, degradation curves, and temperature response, imposing new requirements on energy storage battery management systems (BMS) and energy management systems (EMS). AI-powered intelligent BMS — capable of real-time battery state prediction, charge-discharge strategy optimization, and system lifespan extension — will become essential supporting technology for large-scale sodium-ion deployment. Hithium's expertise in intelligent energy storage system integration is in fact one of its core competitive advantages in securing this mega-deal. The convergence of AI and energy storage is poised to accelerate further as sodium-ion scales up.

Challenges and Concerns

Of course, the 60GWh signing does not mean everything will proceed smoothly. Large-scale sodium-ion commercialization still faces several challenges:

• Energy density ceiling: Sodium-ion batteries have a lower theoretical energy density than lithium-ion, making them difficult to replace lithium-ion in the short term for high-energy-density applications such as passenger electric vehicles. Their primary battleground will remain energy storage, two-wheelers, low-speed vehicles, and similar segments.
• Supply chain maturity: Scaled production of key materials such as hard carbon anodes is still in the ramp-up phase, with yield rates and consistency requiring time-tested validation.
• Standards and certification systems: Industry standards, testing specifications, and safety certification frameworks for sodium-ion batteries are still being developed, and large-scale grid-connected applications require thorough alignment with grid-side technical standards.

These issues are not insurmountable, but they require coordinated effort across the supply chain and the passage of time.

Outlook: The Dawn of a Diversified Battery Era

The 60GWh sodium-ion agreement between CATL and Hithium transcends a single commercial transaction. It signals the energy storage industry's formal entry into a new era of "lithium-sodium coexistence" — lithium-ion leading in high-energy-density applications while sodium-ion dominates large-scale storage and cost-sensitive use cases, with the two complementing rather than competing in a zero-sum game.

From a broader strategic perspective, this is also a pivotal move by China in the global new energy competition. As the race for lithium resources intensifies, the nation that achieves sodium-ion commercialization at scale first will gain strategic advantages in energy security and supply chain autonomy.

The "tidal wave" of sodium-ion may not sweep everything overnight, but the direction of the tide has become irreversible.