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EETimes - Zinc Technology for Energy Storage

Zinc Technology for Energy Storage

By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio 06.02.2022

Because of its ability to support multi-day power backups among other benefits, Zinc has increasingly become the material of choice for long-duration energy storage as opposed to lithium-ion batteries, which tend to be more expensive and less efficient.

Longer–duration energy storage is becoming more common. Longer storage enables more efficient peak shifting by storing inexpensive electricity generated at night to be used during peak hours, which allows for better utilization of renewables by providing power during long periods without sun or wind and electrifies buildings during extended power outages. Lithium-ion batteries are useful for daily cycling and bill management, but they can’t operate for long enough to provide multi-day power backup. Zinc has the ability to accomplish both with durations ranging from 3 to 72 hours. Moreover, Zinc batteries are less expensive than lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries have attained manufacturing economies of scale, but lithium shortage and new zinc battery advances make zinc batteries the clear winner.

Zinc batteries are 100% recyclable, and the zinc recovered from them may be recycled through well–established routes and utilized in new batteries, unlike lithium. Zinc provides recycling benefits over lithium throughout the end–of–life phase, decreasing energy usage, cutting emissions, and limiting waste disposal, in addition to sustainability.

In an interview with Josef Daniel–Ivad, manager of the Zinc Battery Initiative for the International Zinc Association, he said that lithium-ion batteries are popular because of their high energy density, which enables them to come in small sizes and be used in many portable electronics, such as cell phones and laptops.

“Lithium’s high energy density and chemical makeup can cause them to fail catastrophically, typically in bad fires and explosions. In addition to lithium’s problems with thermal runway, there is a scarcity of supply, leading to skyrocketing prices. Lithium-ion batteries are also major users of cobalt — with more than 60% of the world’s production coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country with a tenuous track record of mining standards. These are all reasons why people should consider zinc. With its abundant, conflict-free supply, lower cost and superior safety, zinc batteries are ideal for many applications, especially where flammability is an issue,” Daniel–Ivad’s said.

Daniel–Ivad’s pointed out that rechargeable zinc batteries are making their greatest inroads in stationary energy storage. For example, zinc batteries are providing backup power for homes, small businesses, and industrial settings through developers such as Urban Electric Power, Enerpoly, Zelos, and Salient.
“Other developers, such as Redflow, Zinc8, and eZinc, produce zinc batteries for larger microgrid and industrial applications. In addition to stationary storage, zinc batteries also provide backup power for data centers and traffic signals, and high–end data center UPS power has become a premier application. Further, new smart label tracking applications requiring thin, flexible batteries are being enabled by Imprint Energy’s printed zinc batteries,” Daniel–Ivad said.

KEY TARGET MARKETS

Long cycle life, high specific energy, and power, as well as maintenance-free operation, are all advantages of zinc batteries. Zinc batteries can handle a wide range of demanding commercial and industrial applications because of these qualities. The highest power density of all current rechargeable battery chemistries is achieved by nickel-zinc batteries.

“In addition to stationary storage, data centers, and traffic signals, zinc batteries also play a critical role in high–level military applications. The U.S. Navy lost a sub due to a lithium-ion fire early on, and you simply can’t have a fire on a submarine or aeroplane. Now the U.S. military is using and qualifying zinc batteries, which are non–flammable and low maintenance as an alternative to the incumbent lead-acid batteries that have become too short-lived for the ever-increasing power demands required to operate modern fleets. ZBI members ZAF/AESIR have developed zinc batteries for high–end military applications in jets and submarines, and they are in the final stages of the long permanent military approval process,” Daniel–Ivad said.

According to Daniel–Ivad, Zinc compares favourably with competitors when it comes to cost, supply, and recyclability.
“Of course, the type and chemistry of a zinc battery determine what can be recycled and recovered. For household batteries, the metal components are recovered and separated for reuse, and the black mass is utilized as raw material for fertilizers in agricultural applications or further processed into raw material for new zinc production. Industrial batteries in big installations can be recycled to yield the raw materials for new batteries. The circularity of mined resources is an important sustainability goal. From 2010–2019, zinc recycling doubled, while zinc mining remained at a constant level,” he said.

TECHNOLOGY

Zinc batteries are currently used to power two-wheelers, forklifts, airport trams, and electric bicycles. “Enzinc has created a zinc–microsponge anode that is ideal for various uses. It just received a $1.8 million BRIDGE grant from the California Energy Commission to construct a prototype anode production line. This technology is now being commercialized and should be available in the next years,” Daniel–Ivad said.

Daniel-Ivad sees zinc’s potential in e–scooters, which have been engaged in a lot of disastrous fires while being charged indoors, and which may be prevented with zinc batteries. Of course, zinc has the potential to be used in plug-in hybrids and short-range electric vehicles, but these applications will have to wait a few years since large–scale production is required.

COST

The average life of zinc batteries is nearly 20 years based on normal applications and usage. This is 25% more than lithium batteries under the same conditions.

“Longer life service lowers the total ownership cost through reduced maintenance, replacement costs, and more reliable performance. It is generally accepted in the industry that a target cost of $100/kWh will enable the acceleration of widespread adoption of energy storage, and zinc-based batteries are able to meet this target. Some zinc-based batteries may achieve a cost of $50/kWh in the near future with achieving the scale of manufacturing,” Daniel–Ivad said.

CONCLUSION

Zinc batteries have reached a pivotal stage of development, and developers now are poised to compete with or already are competing effectively with older, established technologies.

“Developers such as Australian–based Redflow, U.S.–based ZincFive, and AESIR Technologies have entered the commercial stage with projects across Australia, the United States, and launching in many other countries. Other zinc battery developers, such as UEP, Zelos Energy, Salient Energy, and Enerpoly, are targeting to drive the cost of energy down to below the magic $100/kWh number many are seeing as a gamechanger for the further explosive growth of battery energy storage systems,” Daniel–Ivad said. “They focus on combining low–cost zinc with low–cost manganese to achieve this. Their technology roadmap estimates that below $50/kWh may be achieved within one year and below $25/kWh with more research and development within three years.”

“That’s why 18 months ago the International Zinc Association formed the Zinc Battery Initiative to serve as the voice of zinc battery developers. Another example of zinc readiness to compete was the latest R–Zinc 2.0 Conference in Brussels, where companies presently engaged in zinc battery development and research were presented their progress. There was a general consensus that zinc-based batteries are ready for the ‘decade of energy storage’ as declared by the American Clean Power Association,” he said.
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