(Yicai Global) Feb. 28 -- Shares of Shenzhen Prolto Supply Chain Management slumped by the daily trading limit after the Chinese service provider said it plans to set up a joint venture to develop sodium-ion batteries.

Prolto’s stock [SHE: 002769] closed down 10 percent at CNY9.90 (USD1.43) today, but is still up about 25 percent over the past month and a half.

The Shenzhen-based company will invest cash for 60 percent of the JV, Prolto said late yesterday. Guangdong Nayi New Energy Technology, a sodium-ion battery technology developer, will invest cash and contribute intellectual property for the remaining stake, it added.

The JV will have a registered capital of CNY100 million (USD14 million) for the industrialization of sodium-ion batteries, Prolto noted.

A pilot production line with an annual capacity of 100 megawatt-hours of sodium-ion batteries will be built this year before construction of a sodium-ion battery production line with 1 gigawatt-hour output a year, rising to 3 GWh, begins next year. The cost was not disclosed.

Prolto began to invest in the new energy storage service management business at the end of 2021. Sodium-ion batteries are safer and more stable than lithium batteries, can be used in the energy storage industry, and do not depend on lithium resources, which have fluctuating prices, the firm pointed out, adding that the new investment will help build higher technical barriers.

Sodium-ion batteries work very similarly to lithium-ion batteries while being cheaper, as sodium salts are the main electrode. Sodium-ion batteries can be used as a substitute for lithium batteries in applications with relatively low energy density requirements.

The industry’s focus is moving toward sodium-ion batteries, with lithium battery giants such as Contemporary Amperex Technology and many crossover investors, including Prolto, announcing investment plans.

Editor: Martin Kadiev