e-Zinc is a company based in Toronto, Canada that has developed a breakthrough electrochemical technology for storing energy in zinc metal. This affordable, flexible, and long-duration energy storage solution is positioned to enable the world’s energy markets to be fully powered by renewable energy, enabling a zero-carbon energy future.
The company has recently raised over $30 million and has investors such as Toyota Ventures and Eni Next that are supporting e-Zinc with supply chain and manufacturing expertise, as well as downstream deployment opportunities. The company is currently building out a 42,000 sqft facility in Mississauga to establish its initial pilot production capabilities to deliver its first commercial systems in the field.
THE PROBLEM
Currently, there is no adequate solution for long-duration energy storage needs, a market expected to reach up to 2500 GW and USD $3 trillion in investment by 2040. e-Zinc’s technology is intended to address three major markets:
Resilience/back-up power applications that rely on diesel generators, which are a headache to operate and a significant environmental concern. These customers include commercial & industrial facilities prone to grid outages, utilities, data centres, hospitals, etc., who want to ensure uptime in an economical, safe, and non-polluting manner.
Off-grid/remote applications that also rely on diesel generators as a primary source of power. These customers include remote communities and homes, islands, mining operations, telco towers, military bases, etc.
Renewable energy proliferation on the grid. Eventually, as markets around the world begin to cross the threshold of >50% penetration levels of renewables, long-duration storage will be required to balance their grids. e-Zinc’s technology can provide days, weeks and even seasonal levels of storage to enable markets to be entirely powered by renewable energy.
THE SOLUTION
e-Zinc’s technology is disruptive because of its ability to provide low cost energy storage capacity at a capital cost of up to 80% less than lithium-ion batteries. Its systems can be flexibly designed for applications requiring hours, days, or longer durations of storage, and power capacity ranging from residential (kW) to grid-scale (MW). e-Zinc’s other striking advantages are its long lifetime, wide operating temperature range, and safety/fire resistance.
e-Zinc has recently been awarded a USD $1.3M grant from the California Energy Commission through its solicitation for non-lithium technologies to support California’s energy goals. The e-Zinc system will be deployed at a greenhouse just outside of L.A. and will capture excess onsite solar power during the day to offset the greenhouse facility’s irrigation load overnight. This project will accelerate e-Zinc’s commercialization in California, an initial market well-suited for e-Zinc given the need for long duration
backup power, driven by utilities shutting down areas of the grid as a safety measure due to the wild fires.
