LG Energy Solution Plans to Establish Sodium-Ion Battery Mother Line in South Korea

In July 2026, LG Energy Solution disclosed its intentions to establish a sodium-ion battery mother line in its Ochang Energy Plant in South Korea by the end of 2026. This initiative is intended to boost the company’s development and production capabilities of sodium-ion batteries. The company plans to start prototype demonstrations in 2027. The company also plans to perform grid-connected presentations of energy storage systems (ESS) by making the use of these new batteries.

The Ochang power plant will test the mass production of sodium-ion batteries, not just early-stage testing production. This allows the company to test manufacturing efficiency and end product quality. The company plans to utilize a part of its lithium-ion battery production line for this purpose, which reduces the upfront investment required. LG Energy Solution already has a pilot production facility for sodium-ion batteries in Nanjing, China. The company demonstrated a pouch-type sodium-ion battery cell at InterBattery 2026.

There are various reasons why LG Energy Solution is accelerating the pace towards the commercial production of sodium-ion batteries. One of the most prominent reasons is that North American companies that use sodium-ion batteries want to diversify their supply chain, but currently they are significantly dependent on China. They want to decrease their dependence on China in the near future.

Impact on the Chemical Industry

According to Precedence Research, the accelerated development of sodium-ion batteries will benefit the chemicals industry as it provides an innovative battery architecture which will soon be featured in the global market. These batteries are expected to be cheaper than traditional lithium-ion batteries as sodium is abundant and inexpensive. Sodium is abundantly available on Earth, which helps companies build indigenous batteries and reduce reliance which was there because they had no supply of lithium, which is needed for conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Impact on the Battery Metals Market

The global battery metals market size is estimated at USD 21.51 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 22.89 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 41.18 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 6.71% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, the fast-track research and development pipeline of LG Energy Solution towards the commercial market launch of their sodium-ion batteries is expected to positively impact the battery metals market. The market will get an extra segment in the form of sodium metal, whose demand would rapidly grow as commercial production starts in the near future.

The demand for such batteries would be high as there are an increasing number of hybrid and electric vehicles in production that need batteries. Sodium-ion batteries are expected to be significantly cheaper than lithium due to the abundant availability of sodium metal and thus can be adopted in budget electric vehicles. 

Impact on the Sodium-Ion Battery Market

The global sodium-ion battery market size is calculated at USD 1.39 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 1.66 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 7.81 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 18.84% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, the sodium-ion battery market is expected to get a boost due to LG Chem Solution’s initiative to fast-track the developmental pipeline of its sodium-ion battery to begin its commercial production. This will give a significant boost to economic activity in the market as commercial production by a prominent global company involves a massive amount of batteries produced every day.

This helps the market grow in various ways, such as an increase in the demand for sodium metal, the chemical apparatus required to convert it into the desired form, infrastructure development required for massive manufacturing plants, and supply chain development for global distribution of the sodium-ion batteries. These batteries are expected to be rapidly adopted in various sectors such as electric vehicles, low- to medium-power-requirement household appliances, and budget-entertainment systems in automobiles.

Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries, but have lower energy density. This helps explain why sodium-ion batteries are bigger in size and are heavier. Sodium is much more abundantly found than lithium, and can be widely adopted for budget equipment and low-power-requirement electric mopeds.

About LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution is a prominent lithium-ion battery manufacturer that caters to the battery needs of electric vehicles, IT, mobility, and energy storage systems. The company has multiple decades of experience in research and development and manufacturing lithium-ion batteries. It also holds the record for the most battery-based patents in the entire world, with 100,000 patents to its name. The company has placed significant impetus on developing sustainable batteries and adopting advanced manufacturing practices. The company has collaborated with various prestigious universities from various countries such as the U.S., South Korea, Germany, China, and Japan to drive technology innovation and to adopt advanced manufacturing practices. The company caters to the battery needs of various mobility machinery such as passenger EVs, robots, commercial EVs, and heavy-equipment EVs.