Sodium-Ion Cell Manufacturing
The Mission
Today, virtually all lithium-ion cell production is concentrated in China. CATL and BYD are scaling fast. North America has no equivalent domestic sodium-ion capacity.
The market is moving fast: energy storage accounts for 41% of total US battery demand in 2026, up from just 26% two years ago - driven by data centers and grid operators shifting away from gas. WSJ / Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, 2026
NAION is changing that - building the continent's first dedicated gigafactory for sodium-ion cells, purpose-built for the grid and data center markets.
Energy infrastructure cannot depend on foreign cell supply. NAION exists to close that gap.
The entire continent has no domestic sodium-ion cell manufacturing capacity. NAION is the first purpose-built facility to close that gap.
The global stationary storage market reaches $542B by 2035. Excluding China's captive supply, NAION can serve the US, Europe, Middle East, Australia, India, and beyond - from a single North American facility.
Energy storage is one of the fastest-growing infrastructure markets on Earth. The window to establish a dominant domestic position is open - and closing.
The Technology
MIT Technology Review named sodium-ion a Top 10 Breakthrough Technology of 2026.
$50-70/kWh vs $90-110/kWh for LFP. In 2025, battery storage undercut gas turbines on levelized cost for the first time. WSJ / BloombergNEF
Significantly lower thermal runaway risk. No auxiliary cooling required. A fundamentally better risk profile for insurers, lenders, and operators.
Designed for daily cycling over decades - the most demanding use case in grid and data center backup storage.
Operates reliably from -40°C to +70°C - a wider range than lithium-ion on both ends, with no performance cliff in extreme cold or heat.
Free from cobalt and nickel - the most ethically and geopolitically constrained materials in the lithium supply chain.
Sodium is one of the most abundant elements on Earth - mined and processed in North America at industrial scale today.
Supply Chain
Unlike lithium - with over 80% of global processing controlled by China - sodium is one of the most abundant elements on Earth.
The same sodium carbonate mined in Wyoming today feeds directly into our cell chemistry. No foreign dependency, no export control risk, no price volatility.
Wyoming's Green River Basin holds the world's largest known deposit of natural trona - the primary source of soda ash (Na₂CO₃) used in NAION cell chemistry.
One of the world's largest natural trona deposits - mined and processed domestically at industrial scale today.
Sodium has no equivalent to China's grip on lithium. Produced across North America without strategic dependency.
Lithium carbonate has swung over 90% in a single year. Sodium precursor pricing is structurally stable.
Sodium-ion cells use aluminum current collectors on both electrodes - saving $9-12/kWh vs. lithium-ion designs.
Trona is a sedimentary mineral formed in an ancient lake bed - mined conventionally, no exotic separation, no water stress, no cobalt, no conflict minerals. The ESG case writes itself.
Get in Touch
We welcome inquiries from innovators, industry experts, grid operators, data center developers, strategic partners, and investors.
Headquarters
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Washington, DC 20007