e-Zinc has 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 projects 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 a 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 the 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."