Author: ezinc

The 2023 Global Cleantech 100 recognizes e-Zinc as one of the exceptional innovators enabling the race to net-zero

Introducing the Companies Writing the Third Chapter of the Clean Fight: Energy Storage Edition

The funding will be used to expand production at e-Zinc’s new Mississauga, ON facility and accelerate commercialization efforts

Larsen honored for his commitment to advance sustainability and reduce carbon emissions in Canada

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced today that its CEO James Larsen was named one of Canada’s 2023 Clean50 in the research and development category. Larsen was selected from a pool of over 1,000 qualified nominees for his leadership at e-Zinc, which is helping create a radical shift in clean energy storage technology and allowing the cost-effective storage of sustainably sourced energy in zinc.

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced today that it has appointed energy and technology industry leader Ron Dizy to its Board of Directors. As a member of the board, Dizy will bring deep industry experience to help e-Zinc grow, commercialize its energy storage technology, and secure new funding.

Currently, Dizy is the co-Founder and Managing Director at Red Jar Capital where he serves a dual role as an operator and investor in the technology and advanced energy sectors. At Red Jar, Dizy is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations, leading investments, and finding ways to consistently add value to Red Jar’s portfolio and partner companies. Dizy is also an active participant in the advanced energy sector, and he is frequently sought out as a consultant by government, energy agencies, and utility organizations.

“A key requirement for a sustainable energy future is long duration storage. e-Zinc’s vision to bring that capability in a cost effective and sustainable package was the key factor motivating me to join its Board,” said Ron Dizy. “I have been watching James’ leadership at e-Zinc over the past three years, and am very impressed with the progress that e-Zinc has made to validate its zinc-air batteries. I’m excited to support the company in bringing this technology to commercial adoption at scale.”

Prior to co-founding Red Jar, Dizy was the Chief Commercial Officer at Spark Power, where he led sales, product management & marketing, business development, and corporate strategy with a focus on bringing new customer-centric solutions to the industrial, commercial, and utility markets. Before that, he was the SVP of Partnerships at clean tech startup community and consultancy MaRS, where he was responsible for helping utilities around the world adopt innovation at scale, and help them survive in a world being rapidly changed by technology, customer preferences, and regulations.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ron to e-Zinc’s Board of Directors and leverage his deep expertise in energy, technology, and venture capital to advance the commercialization of our zinc-based, long-duration energy storage systems,” said James Larsen, CEO at e-Zinc. “As an industry leader, Ron brings valuable and diverse experience, a pragmatic perspective, and shares our passion for enabling a renewable energy future. We look forward to learning from him and building a bright future for e-Zinc together.”

For more information, visit www.e-zinc.ca.

About e-Zinc
e-Zinc is a zinc-air battery company based in Toronto. The company’s energy storage system can be up to 80 percent more cost effective than comparable lithium-ion systems for long-duration applications. Importantly, its energy storage system can operate in cold and hot climates and is made of abundant and recyclable materials. www.e-zinc.ca.

Contacts
Media
Brandon Reid for e-Zinc
brandon.reid@e-zinc.ca

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced it has entered into a collaboration for a pilot project with Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. (TTCI) to further test and validate how commercial scale e-Zinc energy storage systems can reliably provide long-duration energy storage. This project will validate e-Zinc’s capability to store 24 hours of energy, which is approximately 10x that of traditional batteries.

The TTCI project is slated for spring 2023 and is one of several upcoming e-Zinc field demonstration projects, including e-Zinc’s $1.3 Million USD project with the California Energy Commission.

The project will be hosted at Eurus Energy America Corporation’s (EEAC) Bull Creek wind facility in Borden County, Texas (Bull Creek). The pilot program will store excess wind generation capacity in the e-Zinc battery system at Bull Creek. EEAC can then use the stored energy to power buildings at the local facility. e-Zinc’s system is expected to store power for 24 hours, an order of magnitude longer than typical batteries, and is better suited to the intermittency of wind generation than typical batteries.

The pilot project will deliver firsthand experience with e-Zinc’s disruptive technology, and potentially lead to future manufacturing, supply chain and commercial opportunities between TTCI and e-Zinc. Additionally, TTCI will apply its unique capabilities to support installation, integration, and system O&M.

“The most important aspect of this relationship is that TTCI’s interest extends far beyond this initial project – TTCI has identified e-Zinc as a high potential company with strategic alignment to its business,” said James Larsen, CEO at e-Zinc. “This project sets the stage for TTCI to support e-Zinc with manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, sales, and distribution support, as well as project deployment and service for a variety of market applications (e.g., remote mines, off-grid car dealerships, hospitals on weak grid, etc.).”

“This pilot demonstration between TTCI and e-Zinc is a key step in validating e-Zinc’s value proposition for integration and firming of renewable power,” said Sara Chamberlain, Managing Director of Energy Foundry, an early investor in e-Zinc. “The combination of e-Zinc’s innovation and TTCI’s project implementation expertise will propel the company forward into commercialized success.”

To learn more about e-Zinc, please visit www.e-zinc.ca.

About e-Zinc
e-Zinc is a zinc-air battery company based in Toronto. The company’s energy storage system can be up to 80 percent less expensive than comparable lithium-ion systems for long-duration applications. Importantly, its energy storage system can operate in cold and hot climates, and is made of abundant and recyclable materials. www.e-zinc.ca.

About Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc.
TTCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. which, in turn, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading affiliate in the Toyota Group companies. The Toyota Tsusho group has been involved in the trading business in Canada since the 1980’s and founded TTCI as a trading and supply-chain specialist in Canada in 2002. Over the past two decades, TTCI has evolved from a trader in a limited number of commodities and finished goods to a multi-business enterprise which combines international trading with an expansive range of domestically targeted functions, such as supply chain services and intermediate goods processing. TTCI seeks to invest in technologies that promise long-term benefits for health, well-being, and sustainability. https://www.toyota-tsusho.com/english/

About Eurus Energy
Eurus Energy Holdings is a Tokyo-based corporation owned jointly by Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated, and its group is actively pursuing renewable energy projects in Asia, USA, and Europe to meet the social needs for energy supply and reduction of environmental burdens. Eurus Energy Group also expanded operations into Australia, Egypt, Uruguay, and Chile in the southern hemisphere.

Eurus Energy Americas Corporation (“EEAC”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Eurus Energy Holdings and is responsible for renewable energy investment in the Americas, now comprising more than 567 megawatts of wind and solar power generation. https://eurusenergy.com/

About Energy Foundry
Energy Foundry, a Chicago-based venture capital platform, invests in today’s most promising energy innovators, and works with the world’s leading energy companies to build and scale new ventures. Their approach merges venture capital with the perks of partnership and includes an arsenal of essential tools and relationships to help bring great ideas to market. www.energyfoundry.com

Contacts
e-Zinc Media:
Brandon Reid
brandon.reid@e-zinc.ca

Energy Foundry:
Jackie Marolda
j.marolda@energyfoundry.com
+1 312-952-4961

e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced today that it has raised USD $25 million in Series A financing led by Anzu Partners, with additional funding from BDC Capital, Toyota Ventures, and Eni Next. Existing investors, including Seed Round lead investor Energy Foundry, also participated. e-Zinc will use this funding to commence the pilot production of its first commercial energy storage systems for field deployment.

As reliance on intermittent renewable energy increases across the world, there is higher demand for long-duration energy storage assets that enhance the reliability and resiliency of renewable energy assets. e-Zinc recently validated that its zinc-air battery can discharge energy for several days at rated power, compared to only a few hours for most other battery types. Paired with renewable energy sources, e-Zinc’s battery can enable a 100 percent renewable energy future.

In the near-term, e-Zinc aims to displace diesel generators as low-emission alternatives for half-day to five-day backup power use cases. e-Zinc’s battery can also be paired with renewable energy generation to replace the need for fossil fuels in remote or off-grid applications. For example, e-Zinc is partnering with the California Energy Commission to show how e-Zinc’s battery can power businesses through multi-day outages caused by natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, or floods.

“Since raising seed funding in 2020, we have refined our technology and achieved many critical technical milestones, such as demonstrating how our system pairs to solar and grid generation, developing the Balance of System (BoS), and implementing a software and controls layer,” said James Larsen, CEO of e-Zinc. “With this Series A financing, we now have the opportunity to execute high-value commercial pilot projects that provide in-field validation for our batteries.”

e-Zinc’s Series A investors include leading firms that will serve as valuable partners and advisors to drive growth for the company. Toyota Ventures will provide guidance to help e-Zinc scale its manufacturing and supply chain efforts. Eni Next is the corporate venture capital vehicle of Eni, one of the world’s largest energy companies with renewable energy assets across the globe where e-Zinc can potentially deploy its technology. Anzu Partners and BDC Capital offer deep technical, investment, and operational expertise that will assist e-Zinc in developing its business strategy and commercializing its technology.

“Anzu sees tremendous potential in zinc-air batteries to support renewable energy in both on- and off-grid applications,” said David Michael, Managing Partner at Anzu Partners. “We are enthusiastic about e-Zinc’s vision for a renewable energy future, and we look forward to supporting the company to demonstrate the value of its technology in real-world settings.”

“While it is clear that electrification has a key role to play in our journey towards decarbonization, we must ensure that there is an ample and affordable supply of clean energy to the grid,” said Lisa Coca, partner, Climate Fund at Toyota Ventures. “Despite solar and wind deployments being on track to hit record highs, it is critical to address the issue of intermittency, which is why we are excited to support e-Zinc. The company’s innovative battery architecture decouples energy from power to enable cost-effective, long duration energy storage – bringing us one-step closer to a zero-carbon future.”

“We are very excited to partner with e-Zinc, a company developing an innovative, viable, impactful technology for long-term energy storage with multiple applications. This investment reaffirms our commitment in the energy transition with an increasing development of renewable energy assets and our active involvement in the long-term energy storage space, which we regard as a key enabler for the electrification and the decarbonization of the global energy production,” said Gabriele Franceschini, Chairman and CEO of Eni Next.

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e-Zinc wins Phase 1 grant for UK’s longer duration energy storage competition