Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

e-Zinc is a Toronto-based company with a game-changing long-duration energy storage technology, which has developed a breakthrough electrochemical technology for storing energy in zinc metal. This low-cost, flexible, and long-duration energy storage solution will provide the platform for the world's energy markets to be fully powered by renewable energy, enabling a zero-carbon energy future. The critical component of the e-Zinc system is the air cathode that was developed in-house. The company has provided its product samples to an external collaborator and has been validated for the collaborator's application. However, e-Zinc currently does not have the production capabilities to fulfill its external party's short- and long-term needs. This collaborative project between e-Zinc and Lambton College will investigate the manufacturing of e-Zinc's air cathode, e-Zinc's air cathode cost projections,?and?the market demand outside of e-Zinc's own long-duration energy storage technology embodiment. The overall goal is to build a semi-automated production procedure at a pilot scale to manufacture e-Zinc's air cathodes and fulfill the internal and external air cathode demand. With a successful outcome of the pilot scale-up of e-Zinc's air cathode manufacturing process, the company plans to use the technology for captive use in its energy storage systems. It is expected that by 2022 e-Zinc's electrochemical cell technology will reach USD 18.% Billion with an estimated growth of ~14%. The successful completion of the project would also lead to a new manufacturing process in Ontario and create at least 3 new full-time positions at e-Zinc. Furthermore, the company plans to move on to the full production stage and use the pilot plant as a template for full-scale operation. This could create as many as 50 FTE positions. Indeed, e-Zinc's energy storage solution would also provide environmental benefits such as lowering fossil fuel consumption.