Under the wave of global energy transition, a new type of battery technology based on sodium element is accelerating from the laboratory to the arena of industrialization. Unlike the current mainstream but resource limited lithium batteries, sodium batteries are regarded as a key supplement for future energy storage due to their abundant raw materials, low cost, and high safety, and the industry is entering a critical turning point.

On December 15, 2025, Nanjing Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone signed a cooperation agreement with Vashi Power Guangdong Technology Co., Ltd., adding another hardcore footnote to this land full of carbon passion. This sodium ion battery research and production base with a total investment of about 500 million yuan is not only a high-tech enterprise's industrialization launch, but also an industry breakthrough action led by top national team technology and precise entry into segmented markets.

The national industrialization team led by academicians

The core attraction of the Watt hour Power project lies first and foremost in its profound technical heritage and top-notch team composition. The company is a high-tech enterprise successfully incubated by the central enterprise China Youyan Technology Group Co., Ltd. Its source is the crystallization of the introduction of overseas academician teams and their core technologies. This means that the project has been standing on the shoulders of a national level scientific research platform since its inception.

The core team of the company can be called a dream team: it not only gathers scientific research backbones such as academicians and leading talents in scientific and technological innovation, but also absorbs industrial management elites from Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders. Professor Xiao Biwei, a leading figure, is already an international top expert in this field. This composite team structure of top-notch scientific research and mature management provides a solid guarantee for the difficult transition from laboratory technology to large-scale production. As Professor Xiao Biwei said, choosing Jiangning Development Zone is precisely because of its superior location, first-class business environment, abundant talents, and perfect industrial ecology. This reflects the strict requirements of high-tech industrialization projects for comprehensive ecology, and also highlights the attractiveness of Jiangning Development Zone as one of the first national carbon peak pilot parks.

Targeting differentiated competition in the two tricycle market

Unlike some high flying new energy projects that directly target the electric vehicle track, the industrial path of WAYS Power is particularly clear and pragmatic. Its base has clearly stated that it will produce battery modules for electric tricycles. This positioning deeply aligns with the differentiated competitive advantage of sodium ion batteries at the current stage.

Industry experts have already pointed out that the logic of the sodium battery industry is shifting from price disruption to value creation. It should focus on its advantages of high safety, low cost, and good low-temperature performance, and take the lead in breaking through in specific markets. The electric two tricycle market is a billion dollar market that is extremely cost sensitive, has high safety requirements, and has a large demand for lead-acid battery replacement. Watt hour Power is building an integrated industrial chain from positive electrode materials, sodium supplements to battery modules, in order to control costs and quality from the source and quickly seize this track. This pragmatic strategy avoids direct competition in the highly mature field of lithium-ion automotive power, but instead opens up a base for quickly achieving commercial closed loop.

The implementation of this project is also the result of Jiangning Development Zone's precise investment attraction and strengthening of key links in the industrial chain around the new energy track. The reform model of the development zone, which is dominated by enterprises, market-oriented, and supported by the government, provides comprehensive support for such high-tech projects from industry docking, capital docking to application scenario cultivation. Here, the sodium battery project has found not only a piece of land, but also an industrial ecosystem that can understand its technological logic and help it break through the market. Keywords: New Energy News, New Energy Information Network

From signing the contract to production, the journey of Wanshi Power in Jiangning has just begun. Its story is a microcosm of China's new energy industry moving from scale expansion to deep technological cultivation and market segmentation. When the top intelligence of the academician team intersects with the huge demand of the people's livelihood market in Jiangning, a new path of sodium electricity industrialization based on technology and anchored by applications is becoming clear and visible. This may not immediately change the global battery industry landscape, but every solid step it takes is adding a reliable foundation for energy diversification and independent controllability.Editor/Cheng Liting