Canadian battery developer Zinc8 has inked a deal with Indian transformer manufacturer Vijai Electricals to explore joint-venture projects using its next-generation zinc-air energy storage system.
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The agreement will also cover the potential for Vijai Electricals to fabricate components of Zinc8 battery, which is claimed to be much cheaper than lithium-ion technology, as well as being longer-lasting that the current market mainstay technology, lithium-ion (Li-ion).
“I have been impressed by Vijai's track record in distributed energy and manufacturing, its commitment to quality, and its trusted partners in India and over 40 other countries,” said Zinc8 CEO Ron MacDonald.
“This agreement is an important step as Zinc8 enters the global long duration energy storage market.”
Dasari Jai Ramesh, chairman of Vijai Electricals, said: “[Our] manufacturing strength and the advantage of India's educated and relatively inexpensive workforce, we are confident that this solution will go a long way to serve the needs of long duration [battery energy storage systems (BESS)].
“For countries like India which need round the clock renewable energy systems, it is expected that Zinc8 BESS would fill the need in an effective way.”
The capital cost of the Zinc8 BESS, which is one of a new range of technologies promising lower-cost, longer-duration energy storage than Li-ion, is about $250/kWh, falling to $100/kWh for a 32-hour system and $60/kWh for 100 hours. By contrast, Li-ion projects cost about $300/kWh for any duration over eight hours.
