This article provides a summary of a recent report by Dutch public broadcaster EenVandaag, featuring Alfen CEO Michael Colijn. The report explores the arrival of sodium-ion battery technology in Europe and the wider challenge of scaling European battery innovation.

A new generation of battery technology is coming to Europe. As sodium-ion moves closer to commercial deployment, it is also raising a broader question: how can Europe build the technologies and industrial scale needed for its future energy system?

In the EenVandaag report, Alfen CEO Michael Colijn joins battery researchers and industry experts to discuss the development of sodium-ion technology, Europe’s position in the battery market and what will be needed to scale innovation.

A new addition to the energy storage landscape

As Europe electrifies, battery storage is becoming more important for integrating renewable energy. It can support an constrained electricity grid and add additional flexibility to the energy system.

Sodium-ion technology adds another option to the battery mix. By using sodium instead of lithium as one of its key materials, the technology can help diversify battery supply chains and reduce exposure to lithium price volatility.

In July 2026, Alfen and CATL announced a collaboration to deploy 5 GWh of sodium-ion battery energy storage systems across Europe. The partnership builds on the companies’ existing cooperation in lithium-ion energy storage and will bring sodium-ion technology into Alfen’s portfolio for large-scale European energy storage applications. Alfen’s first sodium-ion deployment is expected from the second half of 2027.

Europe has innovation. Scaling it is the challenge.

The EenVandaag report also places sodium-ion technology within the wider European battery landscape. Europe has extensive battery research and technical expertise, but translating innovation from research and pilot projects into competitive industrial production remains a challenge.

CEO Michael Colijn notes that if high-quality batteries can be produced competitively and at scale in Europe, sourcing them closer to home would make sense. Today, however, Europe does not yet have sodium-ion production capacity at the scale required.

That makes technology diversification important today, while Europe continues developing its own industrial capabilities for tomorrow. Sodium-ion will not solve every energy storage challenge on its own. Instead, it gives customers another technology option as the requirements placed on Europe’s electricity system continue to grow.

For Alfen, that means continuing to combine new battery technologies with European engineering, system integration, software and knowledge of local grid requirements.

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Watch the full EenVandaag report here. (In Dutch)