The case for sodium-ion

20 snips

Aug 14, 2025

Landon Mossburg, Founder and CEO of Peak Energy, discusses the potential of sodium-ion batteries for stationary energy storage. He highlights how current advancements in China could reshape energy storage solutions. Mossburg explains the thermal advantages of sodium iron pyrophosphate and its lower capital expenditures. The conversation dives into supply chain benefits and how these innovations could offset costs while ensuring safety and long cycle life. Overall, there’s an optimistic outlook on sodium-ion technology’s competitiveness against traditional lithium-ion systems.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Sodium-Ion Could Mirror LFP's Trajectory

Sodium-ion can follow a similar transition path as LFP: lower cost and lower energy density tradeoffs may be worthwhile for many applications.
Adoption and investment levels will determine whether sodium-ion reaches that cheaper landing spot.

INSIGHT

Meaningful Capacity, Mostly In China

Global sodium-ion manufacturing capacity is meaningful but concentrated in China, estimated between ~30 GWh and 100 GWh today.
Much of that capacity comes from repurposed lithium-ion lines, making precise counts fuzzy.

INSIGHT

Korean Giants Are Committed To LFP

Major Korean battery makers have prioritized LFP and are currently less active in sodium-ion.
Their existing LFP commitments make rapid sodium-ion entry a longer journey for them.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Our first episode covering sodium-ion batteries featured a cautious take on the chemistry: Back in February Adrian Yao, founder of Stanford’s STEER program, explained the challenges of reaching competitive energy density and costs, especially given the falling price of LFP. Still, sodium-ion chemistries are picking up steam, thanks largely to growing deployments in stationary storage and small-scale mobility in China.

So what’s a more bullish take on sodium-ion?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Landon Mossburg, founder and CEO of sodium-ion battery manufacturer Peak Energy. He outlines a pathway to competitiveness and argues that, in the right applications, the advantages of sodium-ion chemistries outweigh their challenges. Shayle and Landon cover topics like:

Why almost all current deployments of sodium-ion capacity are in China — and why Korean battery giants are committed to LFP right now

The thermal advantages of sodium iron pyrophosphate (NFPP) vs. the higher energy densities of layered oxides

Sodium-ion's supply chain benefits and lower CapEx requirements

How NFPP’s system-level savings in cooling, safety, auxiliary power, and maintenance — plus strong cycle life — could offset its current cell cost premium

Resources:

Catalyst: The promise and perils of sodium-ion batteries

Latitude Media: Peak Energy’s quest to build US sodium-ion battery dominance

Latitude Media: Is it too late for the US to rival China on sodium-ion batteries?

Nature Energy: Critically assessing sodium-ion technology roadmaps and scenarios for techno-economic competitiveness against lithium-ion batteries

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.

Catalyst is brought to you by Anza, a solar and energy storage development and procurement platform helping clients make optimal decisions, saving significant time, money, and reducing risk. Subscribers instantly access pricing, product, and supplier data. Learn more at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude.

Catalyst is supported by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform by visiting energyhub.com.

Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.