Life cycle assessment of grid-scale battery storage: sodium-ion systems

Key Contributions

• First comprehensive LCA of sodium-ion batteries specifically for containerised grid-scale storage applications
• Compares four cell chemistries head-to-head on environmental metrics
• Quantifies the environmental impact of balance-of-system components (thermal management, power electronics, enclosures) — often ignored in cell-only studies
• Positions sodium-ion as environmentally competitive with LFP for stationary storage when full system boundaries are considered

Results / Data

• Cell types compared: 4 chemistries (including Na-ion and LFP benchmarks)
• Scope: full container-level grid storage system
• Balance-of-system contributes significantly to total environmental footprint
• Sodium-ion shows favorable environmental profile due to abundant, non-critical raw materials

Source: Life cycle assessment of grid-scale battery storage — RSC Energy Advances, 2026