A ceremony was held on December 2 for the signing of an agreement to develop a 2GWh energy storage plant in Yinchuan, which is the capital city of China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The plant will deploy the sodium-ion battery technology. This event was first reported by the official news platform of Yinchuan Government.

Spanning an area of 200 mu within the Suzhou-Yinchuan Industrial Park, the energy storage plant will cost around RMB 2 billion to build. Once up and running, the plant will generate an annual revenue of RMB 5 billion and an annual taxable income of RMB 500 million. Compared with lead-acid batteries, sodium-ion batteries cost less and have a longer cycle life. Compared with lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries have the advantages of safer operation and abundance of the key metal material. However, sodium-ion batteries have a lower energy density, so they are mainly suitable for application areas where battery weight is not especially important.

The local news platform reported that the deployment of this advanced battery technology aligns with the national strategy for capping CO2 emissions and eventually achieving carbon neutrality. Furthermore, the construction of the energy storage plant will support the “high-quality” development of the key industries in the region as well as Yinchuan’s promotion of the “Three New Economic Activities” that are now concentrated in the city’s economic demonstration zone. As a clean energy project, the energy storage plant will also help strengthen the protection of the ecosystem in the upper section of the Yellow River.