First US commercial sodium battery plant opens
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Natron Energy has started commercial-scale operations at its sodium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Holland, Michigan.
The plant marks the first commercial-scale sodium battery production in the US says Natron and is initially aimed at at centre customers to support the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence. At full capacity, the plant is projected to produce 600MW of sodium-ion batteries annually and will serve as a blueprint for future Natron giga-scale facilities.
Natron has invested over $40 million to upgrade the $300m facility and convert existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing lines to sodium-ion battery production. ARPA-E provided $19.8 million through the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) programme.
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Natron will begin battery shipments in June with an initial focus on data centre customers to support the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence. Beyond this, Natron aims to transform the way businesses use industrial power across a wide range of end markets, including industrial mobility, EV fast charging, and telecom, among others.
Natron has a patented Prussian blue electrodes with lower internal resistance than any other commercial battery on the market today. The battery chemistry has 10x faster cycling than traditional lithium-ion batteries with a 15 minutes charging time and over 50,000 cycles.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) provided the first source of funding to Natron in 2012, followed by additional funding in 2020, and the Company has received investments from strategic customers, including Chevron and Nabors Industries.
Natron marked the occasion with an opening ceremony held at its facility in Holland, MI today, featuring remarks from Holland Mayor Nathan Bocks, Evelyn Wang, PhD, the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and Company executives Founder and Co-CEO Colin Wessells, and Co-CEO Wendell Brooks.
“Our new Holland facility will significantly accelerate Natron’s growth trajectory, positioning the company to lead the next battery revolution. As the world progresses toward a future powered by clean, renewable energy, continued innovation in the energy storage sector remains an absolute necessity,” said Wendell Brooks, co-CEO, Natron Energy.
“In addition, we expect our battery solutions will be used to power the explosive growth in data centres used for Artificial Intelligence. At Natron, we are proud to be leading the development of revolutionary sodium-ion battery technology. With the start of commercial-scale production here in Michigan, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for efficient, safe, and reliable battery energy storage.”
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“We are thrilled to announce the opening of the first commercial sodium-ion battery manufacturing facility in the United States. Sodium-ion batteries offer a unique alternative to lithium-ion, with higher power, faster recharge, longer life-cycle, and a completely safe and stable chemistry. As we now begin to scale production, Natron will strengthen the domestic battery supply chain and create high-quality clean energy jobs in Michigan,” said Colin Wessells, founder and co-CEO, Natron Energy.
“The electrification of our economy is dependent on the development and production of new, innovative energy storage solutions. We at Natron are proud to deliver such a battery without the use of conflict minerals or materials with questionable environmental impacts.”
“As a strong supporter and investor, we are very excited about this breakthrough commercial milestone for Natron,” said Guillermo Sierra, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives – Energy Transition at Nabors Industries. “Natron’s sodium-ion batteries are poised to play a significant role in advancing large industrial and utility-scale decarbonization, including potentially at our drilling operations where Nabors is deploying various solutions to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Commercial production and customer delivery of Natron’s sodium-ion batteries are major steps for the company’s scale up plans and we are very much looking forward to seeing continued adoption of Natron’s products across diversified industries and use-cases.”
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