Chinese battery manufacturer CATL and Dutch energy storage company Alfen have agreed to deploy 5 GWh of CATL's advanced sodium-ion BESS across Europe (Alfen press release, 16/07/2026). The agreement expands on their existing partnership established since 2023 to support growing demand for energy storage solutions in Europe. The partners plan to accelerate the commercial deployment of sodium-ion batteries, a technology expected to diversify battery chemistries and reduce exposure to lithium supply and price volatility.
According to CATL, sodium-ion batteries offer advantages in terms of raw material availability, safety and lifecycle performance. The company has invested CNY10bn (EUR1.2bn) in sodium-ion R&D since 2016 and expects the agreement to support the industrialisation of sodium-ion batteries and help the technology achieve a potential cost advantage of 30–40% over lithium-ion batteries.
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