Zinc battery developer Enzinc has been selected for a $1.8 million California Energy Commission (CEC) BRIDGE award to further develop its batteries for mobility and stationary uses. After approval, the proceeds, along with $1 million of matching funds, will be used to design and test a long-duration stationary battery and build out a pilot anode manufacturing line.
“If we are to electrify everything, we need batteries that use easily-sourced materials and can be scaled rapidly. Being selected for BRIDGE shows the rising awareness that we can’t place all of our energy storage bets on lithium technologies,” said Michael Burz, founder and CEO of Enzinc. “Today’s $60 billion lead-acid battery market can play a larger role in the energy transition by converting existing factories to use Enzinc’s drop-in technology and make more powerful, higher margin and longer lasting batteries.”
Batteries with Enzinc’s zinc microsponge anode’s safe, non-flammable materials will make it ideal for stationary energy storage inside homes and commercial buildings and adjacent to critical energy infrastructure. Additionally, it will be ideal for mobility including e-bikes, e-scooters, electric delivery vehicles and other electric vehicles with moderate ranges, as well as be able to replace the lead acid battery that all vehicles use for starter motors and other systems.
The Bringing Rapid Innovation Development to Green Energy, or BRIDGE, awards are funded by the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program, which will grant up to a total of $57.3 million over four rounds. Enzinc and four other companies were selected for the proposed final round of funding, contingent on final approval at a CEC business meeting.
Kelly Pickerel has over a decade of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World.
I’m skeptical about Enzinc’s claims. The web site states the Enzinc has equivalent energy storage to lithium-ion batteries, it says hundreds of charge/discharge cycles and yet is not forth coming with actual numbers or third-party test results. When one says equivalent to lithium-ion energy density, which chemistry of lithium ion are they “talking” about and comparing their product to? LFP is on average 120 to maybe up to 160Wh/kg, NMC can be from 200 to almost 300Wh/kg. LFP batteries have something like 2,000 to 5,000 charge/discharge cycles, NMC around 1,000 to 2,500 cycles, but nothing on charge/discharge cycles on the Enzinc product. I also see some claims that Enzinc is (three times) the energy density of lead acid and (three times) the lifetime of lead acid batteries. So, put the two claims of lithium-ion equivalency, three times the energy density of lead acid and three times the life of lead acid. This leads me to believe Enzinc (may) be around 150Wh/kg gravimetric energy density, and maybe 3,000 to 5,000 charge/discharge cycles. Does Enzinc need a BMS for energy storage longevity? Does Enzinc need temperature control of the battery pack to function properly? All of these devices applied to lithium-ion technology brings the price of a battery pack up quite a bit above lead acid batteries.
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