Natron Energy has scaled up its plant for energy storge options.

Michigan-based Natron Energy has become the first company to produce Na-ion batteries on a commercial scale in the USA with the start-up of its 600MW facility in Holland. This is just the first step for the company as it plans to use the plant as a blueprint to roll out giga-sized plants in the future. 

Initially, the first shipments in June will be made to data centre customers, where huge demand growth is expected as Artificial Intelligence becomes more embedded in every-day life. Beyond data centres Natron aims to sell across a wide range of end markets, including industrial mobility, EV fast charging, and telecoms, and others. Sodium-ion batteries offer an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for storage, with higher power density, higher cycles, a safe and stable chemistry and, in the case of the USA, a domestic supply chain. 

Natron has invested over US$40M to upgrade the US$300M facility and convert existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing lines to sodium-ion battery production. Contributing to this investment, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) provided US$19.8M through the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) programme. The company has also received investments from strategic customers, including Chevron and Nabors Industries. 

The production process uses patented Prussian blue electrodes to store and transfer sodium-ions faster, more often, than other electrodes, and with lower internal resistance. The cells are made from materials including aluminium, iron, and manganese, and the sodium electrolyte is made from high-purity salt.