Salt capital Zigong welcomes a grand energy industry event. On September 21-22, 2026, the Forum on the Development of the Sodium Ion Battery Industry Chain and Standards will be held here, with the theme of "Salt Aggregation, Salt City, Sodium Revitalization, and Sodium Electricity". As the annual trendsetter of the sodium electricity industry, the forum brings together the forces of government, industry, academia, research, and application, putting the issues of standard improvement and industrialization implementation on the table, and sending a signal of encouragement to the entire industry chain.

Academician's pulse direction

At the opening ceremony, Li Jinghong, an academician of the CAS Member and a professor of Tsinghua University, delivered a report entitled "Development Status and Trends of New Energy Storage Industry". He judged that 2026 is the first year of large-scale development of sodium ion batteries. The inclusion of energy as a future pillar industry in the 15th Five Year Plan is a major strategic industrial adjustment, and China's new energy storage industry will maintain a growth rate of 30% compared to the previous year. From the perspective of development history, the installed capacity of new energy storage in China has achieved a 45 fold increase, and the industrial structure has undergone fundamental changes. Currently, the proportion of new energy storage has reached 68.7%. China's external dependence on lithium resources is as high as 72%. Sodium batteries, with their temperature adaptability and safety performance advantages, can complement lithium batteries in various scenarios.

Multi point flowering of technology

Hu Yongsheng, Chairman of HiNa Battery Technology Co., Ltd., stated that sodium resources have abundant reserves and low costs, which can fundamentally solve the problem of resource bottlenecks. At present, the energy density of layered oxide system sodium is 165 watt hours per kilogram, and the next goal is to increase it to 180 watt hours per kilogram. However, increasing the charging voltage will cause material phase transition and other difficulties. With the adjustment of the consumption tax policy, the sodium electricity industry only has a two-year policy window period and needs to seize opportunities. Professor Cao Yuliang from Wuhan University pointed out that polyanion materials have a long cycle life and high stability. After large-scale development, the cost of sodium batteries is expected to drop below 0.3 yuan per watt hour. Professor Yang Chenghao from South China University of Technology introduced that Rongna New Energy has built a full industry chain production line, with a biomass product sales capacity of about 330 milliampere hours per gram. Zhao Ruirui, President of the Central Research Institute of EVE Energy, suggested promoting the application of sodium batteries around cost reduction and improving standards. Keywords: sodium ion battery, Zigong, energy storage industry

Implementation of standard results

The forum is divided into sub forums, production line inspections, and the release and signing of needle testing results. The first batch of sodium ion battery needle puncture tests were announced on site, with a total of 16 products from 13 companies passing the tests. The upstream and downstream of the industrial chain have signed contracts and reached cooperation in areas such as positive electrode materials, hard carbon negative electrodes, and energy storage batteries. During the period, the annual meeting of the working group on lithium-ion battery and similar product standards was held, and nearly 150 experts from more than 120 enterprises and institutions discussed two international standards and two industry standards. The sodium ion battery industry in China is still in a critical stage of climbing and overcoming obstacles. The next step will be to adhere to technological innovation, standard guidance, and application traction, and promote the stable and far-reaching development of the industry.Editor/Min Jing