Sodium batteries are coming to Europe as an alternative to Chinese lithium dominance
France's Tiamat plans Europe's first sodium-ion battery gigafactory as manufacturers look to sodium's abundant supply to loosen China's roughly 80% grip on global battery production.
According to a piece published Friday by Tom Baxter on Dialogue Earth, sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a potential alternative to lithium-ion technology in Europe, offering a way to reduce dependence on Chinese battery manufacturing, which currently accounts for about 80% of global production. Unlike lithium, which is concentrated in a handful of countries, sodium is abundant in seawater and land deposits worldwide.
Chinese battery maker CATL is leading the sodium-ion market with its TENER system, launched in Munich in June 2026, and expects 1 gigawatt-hour of orders by the end of the year; the batteries can operate from minus 20 to 45 degrees Celsius and last for 15,000 charge cycles, compared with 12,000 for typical lithium-ion cells, while using lower-carbon hard carbon instead of graphite. In Europe, France's Tiamat plans the continent's first sodium-ion gigafactory in Amiens, aiming to begin production in mid-2027 and reach 5 gigawatt-hours of capacity by 2030, with Germany and Sweden also providing grant funding for the technology.
Sodium-ion batteries still cost more to produce than lithium-ion cells, though industry experts predict the two technologies could reach price parity by late 2026 as chemistries improve and input costs fall.
Tom Baxter, Dialogue Earth / Eco-Business: https://www.eco-business.com/news/sodium-batteries-are-coming-to-europe/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
