“China Southern Power Grid (CSG) announced on May 26 the commissioning of the Baochi Energy Storage Station in Wenshan, Yunnan province — a national pilot project and the first large-scale hybrid lithium-sodium battery energy storage facility in China. The plant is also the world’s first to deploy a grid-forming sodium-ion battery system…

The station marks a technical breakthrough by integrating lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries within the same site. Lithium batteries, known for their maturity and fast response, handle high-frequency grid regulations. Sodium-ion batteries, developed with China’s proprietary technology, offer higher thermal adaptability and greater raw material security. Their maximum output and response speed are reportedly three and six times greater, respectively, than traditional sodium-ion batteries.

Chen Man, a member of the National Energy Storage Standardization Technical Committee, noted that sodium can be widely sourced from salt lakes and seawater, easing dependence on lithium. ‘In China’s Qarhan Salt Lake alone, sodium reserves are 500 times that of global lithium reserves,’ he said, underlining the resource’s scalability potential.”

From pv magazine.