Zinc8 Energy Solutions (CSE:ZAIR) Inc CEO Ron McDonald has highlighted that the company, which specializes in flow battery technology that relies on regenerating zinc particles to store and dispatch energy, continues to expand its efforts towards commercialization.
Reporting audited financial results for the fiscal year 2021, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said that it ended its fiscal year to December 31, 2021, with a working capital balance of $9.9 million.
"I am very proud of the accomplishments the team at Zinc8 has made over the course of the year," said McDonald in a statement. "We have worked diligently towards the development of our unique zinc-air energy storage system with the goal of introducing a certified commercial product in 2023. The additional floor space from the new facility has allowed us to expand our efforts towards this endeavor.”
McDonald pointed out that the company has “added key personnel,” streamlined workflows and work closely with its partners to advance "demonstration projects through the various stages of development."
"We are all aware of the need for change when it comes to the reduction of our carbon footprint and the investment in technology solutions is critical if we are to bring about this change,” added McDonald. “Long duration energy storage has a key role to play as we look to transition towards less carbon intensive energy sources…We remain confident that we are developing the right solution at the right time."
On January 18, 2022, Zinc8 Energy and its partner Digital Energy Corp signed a host site agreement with Fresh Meadows Community Apartments in Queens, New York, to install a 100kW/1.5MWh Zinc-Air Energy Storage System (ZESS) to demonstrate its long-duration energy storage capability. The endeavor received financial support from The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
The company said its low-cost, long-duration ZESS system will “support and enhance the economics” of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant which is currently under construction along with an existing solar system at the Fresh Meadows Apartments, a site that is owned by Cammeby Realty Corp.
In April last year, the company also signed a US$200,000 contract with a cloud data center provider to demonstrate its 10kW/80kWh Zinc-Air Energy Storage System (ZESS) for resilient backup applications.
The company said that the unit will “undergo assessment tests” to address unique use cases in data centers and represents “an expansion into broader new markets” for ZESS. Zinc8 will provide a demonstration of its ZESS combined with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to be compared with the performance of a traditional generator set, it added.
The demonstration consisted of the Zinc-Air System connected to a UPS and operated in standby and black started into discharge. The successful completion of the pilot demonstration will validate a low-cost, long-duration (8 to 100 hour) and sustainable energy storage technology which can provide megawatt-scale standby power solutions, noted the company.
In its corporate update, the company said the demo project with the cloud provider is ongoing. Zinc8's engineering team continues to “test, collect, and analyze data from these tests.” In fact, Zinc8 engineering has completed the build of the energy storage system and conducted multiple discrete charge and discharge cycles as part of the testing process.
Zinc8 said it is now “evaluating the overall performance” of ZESS tied with third-party's power electronics. Teams from both Zinc8 and the cloud provider intend to run further tests and build upon the results of those tests, added the firm.
In addition, Zinc8's facility on Ash Street has undergone major renovations over the last several months. It will house executive offices, a research and development lab and equipment used to produce the company's proprietary cathodes. The cathode production equipment was delivered and installed in 2Q 2022, said the company.
Zinc8 said the production equipment is expected to “increase annual production volume” to meet a megawatt production target and allow for “greater design flexibility” to produce cathodes used in the cell stacks providing further support for the company's commercial strategy.
Research firm BloombergNEF has forecast 30% annual growth for the global energy storage market through 2030.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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