The first sodium-ion battery plant in the U.S. started operations Monday, offering an alternative to lithium-based storage that currently dominates the market.
Natron Energy’s sodium-ion facility in Holland, Michigan, will begin deliveries in June, the company said. Production will eventually scale to 600 megawatts annually of sodium batteries slated for grid storage.
The plant will “position the company to lead the next battery revolution,” Natron’s co-CEO Wendell Brooks said in a press release. “As the world progresses toward a future powered by clean, renewable energy, continued innovation in the energy storage sector remains an absolute necessity,” Brooks said.
Natron is hoping to capitalize on the growth of energy-hungry data centers and find customers for grid-scale sodium batteries in large technology companies that may be averse to making long-term investments in lithium-based systems.
