Hithium launches 4 MWh sodium-ion BESS with new 785Ah cell

Hithium, a Chinese battery maker, has announced a 4 MWh sodium-ion energy storage system with a new 785 Ah cell, 20,000-cycle life, and 30-year design life. Full-scale production is planned for 2027, initially at utility scale and then expanding to commercial, industrial and residential sectors. The company will use existing lithium-ion manufacturing lines for production.

Where this fits

Sodium-ion chemistry reduces dependence on lithium, cobalt and nickel, which matters for cost and supply resilience. However, the development is controlled by a Chinese manufacturer and will be produced in China. Australia has no domestic sodium-ion battery production capacity and no announced plans to build one. For grid-scale storage, Australia will remain reliant on imports from firms answerable to Beijing, whether lithium-ion or sodium-ion.

What it means

A cheaper, longer-lived storage chemistry is welcome on the cost side, and sodium-ion could reduce the upward pressure on critical-mineral prices that rapid grid decarbonisation would otherwise create. But it does not solve the sovereignty problem. As the grid tilts toward renewables plus storage, Australia is outsourcing both the manufacturing and the mineral processing to a strategic rival. Sodium-ion is a marginal improvement on the materials front; it does nothing to restore domestic control over the energy system.