Two Sessions Set Tone, Giants Tackle Challenges, Sodium Batteries Take Off in Advantageous Sectors

From technical validation to commercial scale-up, and from peripheral applications to core segments, sodium-ion batteries are rapidly penetrating multiple scenarios in 2026, emerging as a definitive new growth driver in fields such as new energy storage and traction batteries.

Under the dual guidance of the “Dual Carbon” goals and the initiative to build a strong energy nation, during the 2026 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, deputies and members actively proposed suggestions and recommendations. Meanwhile, leading enterprises continue to advance breakthroughs in application scenarios and technologies, jointly propelling sodium-ion batteries onto an industrialization path that is distinct from lithium-ion batteries and oriented toward sustainable development.

Currently, sodium-ion batteries are accelerating their penetration into the core tracks of new energy storage and power batteries, taking areas such as energy storage, communication backup power, and light commercial/special-purpose vehicles as breakthrough points.

01

Policy Anchoring and Suggestions for the Two Sessions

Aiding in the Commercial Expansion of Sodium Batteries

In 2025, the National Energy Administration explicitly set a quantitative target for the first time, aiming for a sodium-ion battery energy storage installed capacity of 3 GWh by the end of the year. Although the actual installed capacity that year fell short of this target, sodium-ion battery installations demonstrated rapid growth. In August of the same year, the Ministry of Finance and two other ministries jointly issued the "Several Policies on Supporting the Development of the Sodium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Industry," providing support for qualified sodium-ion battery energy storage demonstration projects.

The 2026 Government Work Report explicitly proposed to formulate a planning outline for building a strong energy nation. This indicates that the national level aims to prevent and address the risks of energy "bottlenecks," and also means that the sodium-ion battery industry, which has the advantage of resource controllability, will open up broader policy space. At the same time, some representatives and committee members at the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference actively proposed suggestions for the development of sodium-ion battery industry, which highly aligns with China's sodium-ion battery development plan.

During the 2026 National Two Sessions, Yao Jinjian, a national people's representative and the director of the Machining Engineering Center at Guoxuan High-Tech, suggested that innovation leadership in the new energy storage industry should be strengthened. Among the suggestions was to accelerate the layout of cutting-edge technologies such as sodium-ion batteries, in order to build a diversified energy storage technology system compatible with the new power system.

National People’s Congress Deputy and Director of the Huayang New Materials Science and Technology Management Department, Tong Mingquan, proposed: greater support should be provided for pilot-scale amplification R&D and demonstration applications of products derived from anthracite—such as porous carbon, graphite anode materials, and sodium-ion battery anode materials—to promote high-value utilization of coal and gradually reduce the production cost of sodium-ion batteries.

National Committee member and Chair Professor Yang Quanhong of the School of Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University suggested that deep integration of industry, academia, and research should be pursued to truly leverage original and disruptive technological innovations to accelerate industrial transformation and iteration, and advance the industrialization of emerging battery technologies such as sodium-ion batteries.

It can be seen that various parties have focused on the application of sodium batteries, technological breakthroughs, and cost control, actively exploring commercialization acceleration paths for sodium batteries. This not only responds to the national energy security strategy but also addresses the real pain points of the industrial chain, providing an important reference for the large-scale promotion of sodium batteries by 2026.

02

Scenario Breakthrough and Corporate Sprint

Moving from pilot to scale up

Currently, sodium-ion batteries are being driven primarily by energy storage, supported by backup power for telecommunications, and gaining traction in light commercial and specialized vehicles, enabling a transition from pilot projects at the hundred-MWh scale to large-scale GWh-level deployment, while gradually establishing their core competitiveness in differentiated application scenarios.

Energy storage is one of the most certain and primary application areas for sodium-ion batteries. With advantages such as high safety, excellent low-temperature performance, and long cycle stability, sodium-ion batteries are rapidly gaining traction across generation-side, grid-side, and user-side energy storage. Project scales are expanding from the hundreds of MWh level to the GWh level, making sodium-ion batteries an increasingly important choice for renewable energy integration, grid peak-shaving, and user-side energy efficiency and cost reduction.

Sodium-ion energy storage products are also emerging. Recently, Envision AESC's first sodium-ion energy storage dedicated cell officially rolled off the production line, marking the transition of its sodium battery technology from R&D validation to large-scale production.

Reportedly, this cell is customized for energy storage applications, featuring wide-temperature operation, high-rate charge/discharge capability, and high safety. It effectively mitigates performance degradation in low-temperature environments and safety risks at high temperatures, while supporting high-rate response, making it suitable for applications with demanding power and reliability requirements, such as distributed energy storage, data center backup power (AIDC), and projects in cold regions.

Yiwei Energy has developed a 350Ah large-capacity sodium-ion cell, which can provide sodium-ion energy storage solutions for relevant applications. Dianke Lan Tian has developed a sodium battery energy storage system, which has already been applied in microgrids. Penghui Energy recently stated on the interactive platform that its developed square-shaped sodium-ion batteries have a cycle life exceeding 10,000 times, with an average energy efficiency of over 95%, suitable for energy storage applications.

The backup power supply sector for telecommunications has become a "new frontier" for the large-scale deployment of sodium-ion batteries. On February 28 this year, China Unicom Beijing Branch issued a tender announcement for the centralized procurement project of integrated UPS and integrated switch-mode power supply systems (including sodium-ion batteries) for mobile network supporting power supply systems from 2026 to 2028, with a procurement budget exceeding RMB 10 million. This indicates that the operator has shifted from pilot testing to centralized procurement and long-term, large-scale application.

According to statistics, the three major operators, China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom, have all laid out sodium-ion battery power supply systems for their base stations. Communication backup power has become another suitable scenario for the large-scale application of sodium-ion batteries, following energy storage.

In the field of power batteries, sodium-ion batteries also demonstrate distinct competitive advantages. Leading automakers and battery companies have already launched more than 10 mass-produced vehicle models powered by sodium-ion batteries, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and special-purpose vehicles, with industry leaders such as CATL and BYD among them.

By 2026, sodium-ion batteries have firmly reached the tipping point for large-scale commercialization. Leading enterprises are accelerating scenario validation and mass production, driving sodium-ion batteries from pilot projects toward faster adoption in their key application segments. Currently, sodium-ion batteries are strategically positioned in three core markets: energy storage, telecom backup power, and light commercial/specialty vehicles—addressing gaps in diversified energy storage within the new power system while simultaneously unlocking incremental opportunities in the traction battery sector. This represents not only a complementary and symbiotic industrial pathway alongside lithium-ion batteries but also a critical strategic move for China to enhance energy security and achieve supply chain autonomy. With accelerating technological advancements and growing economies of scale, the sodium-ion battery industry is poised for an application boom, positioning it as one of the most promising growth drivers in the 2026 new energy landscape.