Enzinc Wins Energy Storage Award for Pioneering Unmatched Battery Innovation
Enzinc, an advanced rechargeable zinc battery technology developer, announced it received the Energy Storage Award for Breakthrough Research and Development (R&D)/Innovation of the Year. This prestigious accolade is a testament to the company’s groundbreaking technology that makes a new category of powerful and safe batteries possible.
The Energy Storage Awards are organized by Solar Media, publisher of the energy storage industry website Energy-Storage.News and host of the Energy Storage Summit series. A panel of 12 judges, comprised of distinguished experts from various sectors of the energy storage field and academic institutions, evaluated nominees for this year’s awards.
“The breakthrough underlying the powerful batteries we are bringing to market can fundamentally reshape the energy storage market,” said Michael Burz, Enzinc founder and CEO. “I extend my gratitude to the judges for recognizing the Enzinc team’s extraordinary achievement. By unlocking the power of zinc, we can offer powerful and safe energy storage, with the ultimate goal of shaping a sustainable and resilient future.”
Enzinc’s innovation allows zinc-based batteries to deliver unparalleled performance, offering three times the energy output and cycle life compared to traditional batteries. By eliminating battery-killing dendrites, its proprietary zinc anode technology is a game-changer resulting in superior batteries suitable for both mobile and stationary applications. With Enzinc’s technology at its core, a wide range of applications, from urban electric vehicles to home and grid energy storage systems, can harness the benefits of safe, energy-dense and easily recyclable nickel-zinc batteries.
What sets Enzinc apart is its innovative go-to-market approach – allowing for cost-effective adaptation of existing NiCad, NiMH and lead-acid factories to produce premium batteries infused with Enzinc innovation. This transformation enables these factories to leverage their worldwide manufacturing capacity of more than 400 GWh, effectively tripling their capacity. With this scaling capability, Enzinc and its partners stand ready to meet the ever-growing demand for energy storage solutions, offering a secure, economically recyclable alternative to lithium-based batteries. Notably, zinc, as the fourth most mined metal globally, offers countries a resilient alternative to lithium-dominated supply chains.
Enzinc’s innovative breakthrough is underpinned by the unique attributes of the zinc sponge structure:
- Elimination of Dendrite Growth: Significantly increases cycle life.
- Higher Surface Area: Provides specific energy and energy density equivalent to LFP batteries at the cell level and NMC at the systems level.
- Cathode Agnostic: Can be coupled with nickel, manganese, silver and carbon cathodes.
- Safe: Water-based electrolyte removes the risk of thermal runaway that plagues many other battery chemistries such as lithium ion and sodium ion.
In recognition of its cutting-edge innovation, Enzinc has also received several other prestigious awards, including the Keeling Curve Award 2022, the Global Automotive Mobility and Innovation Challenge 2022 from the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the Coup de Cœur 2023 Startup Challenge by the World Materials Forum.
Based in California, Enzinc has received four out of five Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program grants from the California Energy Commission and, in 2022, closed a $4.5 million seed round led by Portland-based 3×5 Partners.
Enzinc | enzinc.com
