Enerpoly, a Swedish startup that produces zinc-ion battery storage systems with durations of two to 10 hours, plans to scale production up to 100 MWh per year by 2026.
Swedish zinc-ion specialist Enerpoly has secured a SEK 88.5 million ($8.4 million) three-year grant from the Swedish Energy Agency, enabling it to demonstrate its patented technology with the world’s first megafactory to manufacture zinc-ion batteries.
The grant marks the first step toward financing the production plant. Enerpoly will raise additional private capital through a Series A funding round, which will come on top of $13.8 million the company has raised to date.
“Enerpoly’s current production line is 100 kWh a year,” Enerpoly CEO Eloisa de Castro told pv magazine. “We plan to have the factory up and running in 2026 and aim to have the production scaled to 100 MWh a year by the end of that same year.”
Enerpoly’s goal is to demonstrate that zinc-ion batteries can be “affordably and profitably mass-produced at scale, with attractive returns for investors.”
The project roadmap for the grant includes developing automated manufacturing systems to streamline processes, improving energy efficiency in cell production, and ensuring optimal productivity and safety at the plant, according to the company. Enerpoly will also work to build a sustainable European value chain, strengthen intellectual property protection, and further expand its workforce in Sweden.
Enerpoly has developed its zinc-ion battery technology from abundant materials. Specifically, it uses zinc metal as the anode and manganese dioxide as the cathode, with a water-based electrolyte. Its proprietary battery cells are built with a prismatic form factor.
Enerpoly’s batteries are best suited for medium to long duration applications for stationary energy storage with two- to 10-hour discharge durations.
The modular battery technology is said to be non-flammable and non-explosive properties and therefore well-suited for use in challenging applications, such as critical infrastructure and densely populated urban areas. Enerpoly batteries have been tested against the UL 9540A standard.
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Its 3 kWh battery packs weigh 60 kilograms and measure 800 mm x 177 mm x 432 mm. They operate in the temperature range of -10 C to 50 C. The nominal voltage stands at 48 V, with a nominal capacity of 60 Ah. The battery packs have a maximum charge/discharge power of 2.8 kW, with 1.4 kW of continuous power.
In February, Enerpoly announced plans to develop prototypes of a residential plug-in storage system with rechargeable zinc batteries in Europe, under an EU-funded collaborative project with Austrian startup EET.
Under the “ZincMate” project, the partners will produce prototypes of a plug-in storage system with rechargeable zinc batteries. The technical basis for ZincMate is EET’s on-grid technology, in combination with Enerpoly’s cost-effective batteries.
EET makes photovoltaic systems with energy storage that can be set up on a balcony and plugged into a wall outlet. Founded in 2017, EET is said to be the only company producing storage devices that can be installed by amateurs, without the help of technicians.
EET’s innovation core for the SolMate device is an integrated and patented measurement technology that can assess the energy demand of a household via a power outlet connection. This eliminates the need for further installation or connection to a household’s electric grid.
“Currently, EET’s SolMate device is equipped with a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery and it’s obvious that battery technology needs to improve,” EET CEO Christoph Grimmer said earlier this year. “Moving to zinc-ion technology for residential applications is the next step in the right direction.”
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Source: pv magazine
