Canada’s Zinc8 Produces its First Zinc-Air Batteries for US Market

Canada-based energy solution provider company, Zinc8 has announced recently its first commercial production facility (zinc air batteries) will be built in New York. The recently released US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) manufacturing production credits offer distinct and direct benefits to Zinc8, impacting its production plans in the US, according to a thorough study performed by the firm.

According to Zinc8 Energy Solutions, its proprietary flow battery technology can supply power in the 20 kW to 50 MW range with energy storage and discharge times of 4 to 100 hours. An increase in the size of zinc particle storage tanks allows for more scalability and capacity. A wide range of long-duration applications for microgrids, and utilities, as well as for commercial and industrial enterprises, can be supported by the modular battery.

In contrast to lithium-ion technology, which claims to have broken the relationship between energy and power, Zinc8 claims to not require new stacks to scale. As a result, growing Zinc8’s technology may be done by merely increasing the fuel tank’s capacity and the amount of recharged zinc fuel used in it. The zinc air batteries are non-flammable, non-toxic, and sustainable with reliable supply chains for mass production, the firm claims, and the technology promises zero capacity fade over an extended lifetime.

The Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit included in the IRA, which offers benefits to battery manufacturers as well as to crucial mineral processing industries, persuaded the Canadian company to relocate to the USA. Every qualified battery cell will be given a $35 credit, scaling with the battery’s capacity. Incentives will remain at their initial level until 2029, then they will gradually decrease starting in 2030 and ending in 2032.

Additionally, $10 billion in funding is available to build clean energy technology factories or to convert existing ones with equipment and production lines to produce clean energy components and equipment. The $6 billion in incentives under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will boost domestic battery R&D and manufacturing. This will strengthen the domestic supply chain.

Zinc8 has committed to relocating to iPark87, the old TechCity complex that is currently being transformed into an EPA cleaning site. According to Schumer, the Hudson Valley could gain up to 500 new, well-paying renewable energy employment with Zinc8 as an anchor tenant of iPark87.