China has just put a concrete price on one of the big questions in energy storage: how much does it cost today to take sodium-ion technology from technological promises to a large-scale commercial project?
CATL was awarded a contract to supply 10 MW/40 MWh of sodium-ion battery storage for the Renqiu Zhihong independent pilot project, a 100 MW/400 MWh project located in China's Hebei province. The contract is valued at 41.41622 million yuan , equivalent to 1.035 yuan per Wh .
This figure becomes significant when compared to the other technology that will coexist within the same facility. The project will allocate 90 MW/360 MWh to lithium iron phosphate batteries , the supply of which was awarded to Envision Energy at a price of 0.518 yuan/Wh .
The difference means that the sodium system awarded to CATL costs almost twice as much per unit of capacity as the lithium block. However, far from hindering its deployment, the developer decided to incorporate both chemistries within the same power plant to evaluate their performance under real-world conditions.
The configuration includes 30 MW/120 MWh of high-capacity lithium iron phosphate, 60 MW/240 MWh of long-life LFP, and 10 MW/40 MWh of sodium-ion . In terms of energy, sodium chemistry will account for 10% of the 400 MWh installed .
The project will also include a 220 kV step-up substation and will be connected via a 220 kV line to the Jilu substation. The total investment was originally estimated at 409.5944 million yuan , and the facility will occupy approximately 50 mu of land.
A test bench for comparing lithium and sodium
The unique aspect of the project lies not only in the fact that CATL will supply sodium batteries, but also in the fact that both chemistries will be installed in the same four-hour power plant .
This will allow us to compare variables that are currently crucial for the competitiveness of storage: cost, degradation, efficiency, safety, thermal behavior, and useful life .
The award also highlights the gap that still separates the two technologies. In the lithium block tender, Envision submitted the best offer at 0.518 yuan/Wh , while the second-place bid came in at 0.525 yuan/Wh.
For the sodium segment, however, proposals ranged from 0.960 to 1.076 yuan/Wh , with an average of 1.0322 yuan/Wh . CATL was ultimately selected with a bid of 1.035 yuan/Wh .
In other words, the higher value of sodium was not a peculiarity of CATL , but appeared across the board among the participants in that part of the bidding.
This data is especially relevant because it allows us to qualify one of the main expectations surrounding this chemistry: its potential to become a cheaper alternative to lithium thanks to the greater availability of sodium and a raw material chain less exposed to certain critical minerals.
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In this particular tender, that potential advantage has not yet translated into a lower initial price for the system.
CATL accelerates marketing
The award comes as CATL accelerates its strategy to bring sodium-ion technology to ever-larger scales.
The company has been expanding its offerings beyond experimental applications and recently unveiled new solutions for stationary energy storage. At the same time, it signed an agreement with HyperStrong for 60 GWh of sodium-ion batteries over three years , one of the most significant commercial moves to date for this battery chemistry.
That contract takes on greater importance in light of the Hebei data. If sodium still has a considerably higher initial cost than LFP, industrial scale will be one of the factors needed to close the gap.
The Chinese market is precisely beginning to generate that scale through projects, tenders, and new supply contracts. CATL has also worked on sodium-ion products designed for stationary storage and offers advantages related to low-temperature performance, thermal safety, and raw material availability.
But the Hebei project introduces an element that commercial presentations don't always show: the real price resulting from a competitive bidding process .
China offers fiscal relief to new chemical companies
The growth of sodium-ion technology also coincides with changes in Chinese fiscal policy that may influence the relative competitiveness of different technologies.
China reduced the VAT refund on battery exports from 9% to 6% on April 1, 2026, and will eliminate it completely on January 1, 2027 .
This factor could alter manufacturers' business strategies in the coming years. Therefore, the sodium business cannot be analyzed solely based on the current cost of the fuel cell. The discussion must also consider production scale, industrial policy, taxes, safety, raw materials, and the total cost over the asset's lifespan .
From the laboratory to the electrical system
The project timeline is also demanding. The EPC contract was awarded to PowerChina Shandong Electric Power Construction No. 1 Engineering , with the contractual objective of achieving full operational capacity by December 25, 2026 .
This makes Renqiu Zhihong more than just a technological test. If the deadlines are met, China will have a grid-connected asset in a few months where it will be possible to simultaneously evaluate 360 MWh of lithium iron phosphate and 40 MWh of sodium ion .
The experience will be relevant in determining the extent to which the second chemistry can justify its higher capital cost through other operational benefits.
For now, the market has already provided an initial quantitative reference: 1.035 yuan/Wh for sodium versus 0.518 yuan/Wh for LFP in the same project .