Sodium-ion battery industry forum opens in Zigong

The fifth Sodium-ion Battery Industry Chain and Standards Development Forum opened in Zigong, Sichuan province, on Sept. 22, bringing together experts, scholars and business representatives to discuss industrial development, technical standards and emerging applications.

Co-organized by the China Electronics Standardization Institute and the China Energy Storage Alliance, the forum aims to promote practical industrial cooperation and support Zigong's efforts to become a major hub for the new energy industry.

At the opening ceremony, Li Jinghong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at Tsinghua University, delivered a keynote address titled "Current Status and Trends in the Development of the New Energy Storage Industry." He reviewed the sector's development in light of national policies and technological advances and outlined its future direction.

Participants also signed cooperation agreements on developing the sodium-ion battery industrial chain and expanding its applications across different scenarios.

Test results for key sodium-ion battery performance indicators were also released. In the first batch of assessments, 16 product models from 13 companies passed specialized nail-penetration tests.

Following the opening ceremony, industry experts, researchers and entrepreneurs shared their latest findings and practical experience in a series of keynote presentations.

In recent years, Zigong has drawn on its salt and brine resources and existing industrial base to build a new energy-focused industrial system. The city has developed lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries in tandem while expanding its power battery and energy storage sectors.

It has also established an industrial chain covering brine resource development, cathode and anode materials, battery cell manufacturing, and system integration and application, laying a foundation for the coordinated growth of its sodium-ion battery industry.