Peak Energy claims it can finally deliver sodium‑ion batteries for U.S. grid storage after Natron Energy and Bedrock Materials shut down operations. Peak Energy says its technology can compete with low‑cost lithium‑iron phosphate (LFP) batteries that currently dominate the market.

General Motors, which has partnered with the startup, will build a $71 million factory near Sacramento with a 4 GWh annual production capacity that could power 4 million homes. The partnership positions Peak Energy to deploy sodium‑ion batteries at grid scale, leveraging GM’s existing battery manufacturing plants.

Although sodium‑ion cells have lower energy density than LFP, Peak Energy’s GS1.1 system offers a 20‑year lifespan, about 20,000 cycles, and retains 80 % capacity. Operators could save roughly 20 % on lifetime costs compared with LFP storage.

Sodium is abundant; the U.S. supplies 90 % of its soda ash from the Green River Basin in Wyoming, far richer than lithium sources, but processing remains dominated by China.