Sodium-sulfur batteries were first invented in the mid-1960s. Early research mainly focused on the application of electric vehicles. Ford in the United States, YUESA in Japan, BBC and Railway Laboratories in the United Kingdom, ABB in Germany, Mink in the United States and other companies have successively A sodium-sulfur battery electric vehicle has been assembled and a long-term road test has been carried out. However, long-term research has found that sodium-sulfur battery has more advantages as an energy storage system, and when used as an electric vehicle or other mobile power source, its superiority cannot be shown. And early research did not completely solve the safety and reliability of sodium-sulfur batteries, so the application of sodium-sulfur batteries in vehicle power supplies was eventually abandoned. The outstanding advantages of sodium-sulfur battery in terms of high specific power and specific capacity, low raw material cost and manufacturing cost, temperature stability and no self-discharge, make sodium-sulfur battery the energy storage system with the most market vitality and application prospects.

Japan’s NGK company is an international landmark organization for the research, development and application of sodium-sulfur energy storage systems. In the mid-1980s, NGK began to cooperate with Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company to develop energy storage sodium-sulfur batteries. In 1992, the first sodium-sulfur battery energy storage system began to be demonstrated in Japan. By 2002, there were more than 50 sodium-sulfur battery storage systems. Can stand in Japan for demonstration operation. In 2002, NGK started the commercial production and supply of sodium-sulfur batteries. In September 2002, under the auspices of the American Electric Power Company (AEP), the sodium-sulfur battery energy storage station provided by NGK was operated for demonstration in the United States. Beginning in April 2003, NGK started the large-scale commercial production of energy storage sodium-sulfur batteries, with an output of 30MW and 65MW in 2004. In July 2004, the sodium-sulfur battery energy storage station with a capacity of 9.6MW/57.6MW·h was officially put into operation in Japan. The power of the largest sodium-sulfur battery energy storage station in the design reached 20MW. In the same year, the installed capacity of the U.S. Columbia Air Force Base was 12MW/120MW. ·H sodium-sulfur battery energy storage device acts as a backup power source. At present, NGK has more than 100 sodium-sulfur battery energy storage stations operating globally.

The research on sodium-sulfur batteries in China began in the late 1960s. At the beginning, its development was almost synchronized with the advanced level of foreign countries. There were also many research units. In the following 20 years, the research on sodium-sulfur batteries in China was limited to the power of electric vehicles. Battery. In August 2006, Shanghai Electric Power Corporation and Shanghai Institute of Ceramics jointly launched a sodium-sulfur cell research project. In January 2007, it successfully trial-produced a large-capacity 650Ah sodium-sulfur cell, making China a successor to Japan. After that, it was the second country in the world to master the core technology of large-capacity sodium-sulfur battery. Shanghai Electric Power Company and Shanghai Institute of Ceramics jointly invested in the establishment of the “Shanghai Sodium Sulfur Battery R&D Base” in August 2007, which is engaged in the research and development of large-capacity urban grid energy storage system modules, grid connection systems and energy storage systems. The base currently undertakes the scientific and technological support of China, the major projects of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, and the sodium-sulfur energy storage system scientific research projects of the China Power Grid and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In February 2009, the pilot test line of the sodium-sulfur energy storage system was completed, and the production capacity of the sodium-sulfur energy storage system with an annual output of 2MW was formed; sub-modules with a power of 100kw have been successfully developed and operated stably; the 2010 Shanghai World Expo has shown 100kw Grade sodium-sulfur battery energy storage system. It is planned to form a production capacity of tens of megawatts in the next few years.