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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.