By Robert Malthouse, Energy Storage Report
Could zinc batteries usurp lithium-ion’s strong market position and become the storage technology of choice?
Could zinc batteries usurp lithium-ion’s strong market position and become the storage technology of choice?
The potential certainly exists and Enzinc CEO Michael Burz is on a mission to make it happen.
Headquartered at the University of California in Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station in the San Francisco Bay area, Enzinc’s engineering team has developed a sponge-type anode technology made from zinc, and says it will be the first company offering a rechargeable zinc-based battery that can compete with lithium-ion.
Who’s backing Enzinc?
Enzinc created the anode using technology developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory. So far, Enzinc has raised north of $1.3m, mainly in the form of grants from the US Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission, as well as investments made by founders, senior advisors and angel investors.
The company recently completed 1,000 cycles of its test anode and is beginning to scale the technology into a small battery for commercial testing, which is scheduled to take place in the second quarter of next year