Natron Energy Inc. plans to build a 24-GWh sodium-ion battery gigafactory in Edgecombe County, NC, the company announced Aug. 15. The planned facility will be spread across an area of nearly 1.2 million square feet and will be located at the 437-acre Kingsboro megasite, the company said, adding that the sodium-ion gigafactory project will represent a total investment of nearly $1.4 billion from Natron Energy.
According to the company, Natron’s sodium-ion batteries offer higher power density, more cycles, a domestic US supply chain and unique safety characteristics over other battery technologies.
It further said that the upcoming Edgecombe County facility will enable a fortyfold scale-up of Natron’s current production capacity, accelerating the company’s technology commercialization while supporting over 1,000 high-quality, local clean energy jobs at full operating capacity. Natron’s sodium-ion batteries will be delivered to a wide range of customer end markets including data centers, mobility, electric vehicle fast charging, microgrids and telecom, among others.
According to the official note issued by the company, the project will be facilitated in part by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $3.4 billion.
Interestingly, Natron’s patented Prussian blue electrodes store and transfer sodium-ions faster, and with lower internal resistance than any other commercial battery available on the market currently, the company said, adding that the battery chemistry offers zero strain during charging and discharge, ten times faster cycling than traditional lithium-ion batteries, and an over 50,000-cycle life. Moreover, Natron’s supply chain requires zero lithium, cobalt, nickel or other difficult-to-obtain minerals.
“This flagship manufacturing facility will dramatically accelerate our efforts to deliver sodium-ion batteries to customers who are hungry for safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible energy storage solutions,” said Colin Wessells, founder and co-CEO, Natron Energy. “After evaluating over 70 sites across 9 states, we found that North Carolina, with its leadership in the clean energy revolution, would make the perfect home for this project.”
