Zinc8 Energy Solutions (CSE:ZAIR) Inc. said that its engineering teams have now been relocated to its renovated facility in Richmond, British Columbia where multiple test zinc-air energy storage systems (ZESS) are being built for certification by independent testing labs such as the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
The Canadian company, which focuses on developing and commercializing its low-cost, long duration zinc-air battery, said its engineers are also building ZESS units for demonstration projects.
The new facility has undergone “a variety of upgrades to ensure its safety” and to support various engineering activities, said the company. Modifications to the facility's electrical systems have been made to facilitate both engineering verification testing and certification validation testing for multiple ZESS units, it added.
The upgraded facility has the space for nine subsystem level engineering teams, each of which is tasked with testing and analyzing a specific subsystem of the ZESS for certification.
The company said the energy storage systems are in various stages of development with priority given to the system assigned to the previously announced demonstration project for the cloud service provider. Each ZESS is being built to test various system levels in parallel for certification and is “expected to allow Zinc8 to have a certified product available for the company's production of an initial commercial 40-kilowatt ZESS anticipated in the first quarter of 2023.”
"We are continuing to advance towards initial production of a certified 40-kilowatt ZESS targeting beachhead markets such as New York State," Zinc8 Energy Solutions CEO Ron MacDonald said in a statement. "These are exciting times as we are actively transitioning the company from research and development into pre-commercialization. We have several core members of our engineering team that have been with Zinc8 from its earliest research and development days. It is understood that developing a new and potentially revolutionary technology requires years of commitment. It is their diligence and innovation that has progressed the technology to the point where we can now present a working product for certification on our path towards commercialization."
MacDonald noted that the initial production target in early 2023 has been set by the team, based on its knowledge of emerging long-duration markets like New York City.
"The new facility has allowed for the expansion of our team through the addition of key personnel…We recognize the opportunity that exists for the energy storage system market and we have worked hard to accelerate our timelines,” MacDonald added. “I am pleased with our progress. Our previously announced energy storage systems that were purpose-built for certification and specific demonstration projects are on schedule and we expect to enter the data collection and analysis phase in the near future."
In response to the increasing demand for its proprietary cathodes, which are critical to the cell stack manufacturing process, the company is set to start upgrading its cathode production facility at its original Ash Street location, which is also home to the R&D team. “These upgrades will significantly increase the volume capacity of cathode production that in turn will support the future annual production of cell stacks,” said the company.
The long duration (8-100+ hours) ZESS has no fire and explosion risk, has no capacity fade over its extensive lifetime, and offers complete charge operational flexibility, noted the company.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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