New Zinc Battery Delivers 3-12 Hours Of Energy Storage

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America’s rogue Commander-in-Chief promised the moon and stars to his friends in the fossil fuel business, but nothing can stop the energy transition. The US renewable energy profile is expected to continue growing this year, with a healthy assist from the energy storage industry. In the latest development, the startup Eos Energy Enterprises is scaling up production of its new Z3 aqueous zinc battery, aiming to supply the booming energy storage market in Texas and other parts of the US.

What do you think, is rogue the right word? Too strong? Not strong enough? Share your thoughts in the comment thread or better yet, find your representatives in Congress and let them know what you think.

The Rise Of The Zinc Battery, Hyperscale Edition

Energy storage innovators have been eyeballing zinc battery formulas as a fire-safe alternatives to the flammable electrolyte deployed in lithium-ion batteries. They don’t require an active cooling system, which simplifies the battery architecture. Replacing lithium with zinc and other alternatives also helps to diversify the all-important domestic battery supply chain.

The New Jersey-based zinc battery startup Eos Energy Enterprises sailed across the CleanTechnica radar back in 2013 with a next-generation approach to zinc energy storage systems, aimed at resolving some major stumbling blocks in the way of grid-scale, long duration battery systems.

Last year Eos surfaced on the pages of CleanTechnica again, with a market-ready zinc formula. It was a busy year, as described in a 2024 recap issued by Eos last week. Eos CEO Joe Mastrangelo reported that the company “brought the first state-of-the-art manufacturing line into full operation, reduced Z3 costs, increased commercial opportunity pipeline and orders backlog and secured two major financing investments with Cerberus and the Department of Energy.” The Cerebrus investment was in the amount of $40.5 million, representing the final leg of a total “delayed draw term” loan of $210.5 million.

Mastrangelo also emphasized that Eos is now “now hyper-scaling its capacity expansion.” The plan involves adding three more manufacturing lines to support an additional 6 gigawatt-hours of annual output. The company is also pursuing a shortlist of new “Factory 2 Works” facilities in multiple states, outside of its original plant in Pennsylvania.

Wait, What Department Of Energy Investments?

If you caught that thing about Energy Department financing, that would be a loan guarantee of $303.5 million that Eos earned from the Loan Programs Office in December last year. No word yet on whether or not Trump will try to claw that back, but Eos does note that it has already secured first funding to the tune of $68.3 million.

The Energy Department loan guarantee was assigned to cover the construction costs for up to four Z3 production lines in Pennsylvania. “All four lines of the project are expected to manufacture 8 GWh of storage capacity annually by 2027, or enough to provide electricity to over 300,000 average U.S. homes instantaneously or meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 130,000 homes if fully charged and discharged daily,” the Energy Department noted in a press statement dated December 3.

US Navy Explores The Long Duration Angle

Eos describes the new Z3 battery as durable and fully recyclable, with a 3-12 hour duration, no moving or fragile parts, and a 20-year lifespan. Public details on Eos’s proprietary formula are slim, though the company does state that the battery was inspired by zinc plating baths. “Z3 battery modules store electrical energy through zinc deposition,” Eos explains. “Our aqueous electrolyte is held within the individual cells, creating a pool that provides dynamic separation of the electrodes.

“During charge and discharge, ions move through the electrolyte to their respective electrode to donate or accept electrons, creating a current flow through the bipolar stack,” they add.

The battery’s proprietary water-based electrolyte is doped with halides, buffering agents, and other additives. The formula is tailored to maximize zinc solubility and plating, while blocking the formation of dendrites, the fernlike growths that cause battery degradation.

The California Energy Commission is among those putting the new battery to the test. In December, Eos announced that the CEC is helping to fund a Z3 installation at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California to the tune of 400 megawatt-hours, in partnership with the firm International Electric Power

“This marks the second agreement and third project with IEP, a leading developer in the energy space deploying multiple technologies, and builds on Eos’ successful prior delivery of its battery systems to a Texas-based IEP project earlier this year,” Eos noted.

Last week, Eos also announced that the CEC is fully funding an $8 million order for Naval Base San Diego. “This strategic project will provide essential energy resilience to the U.S. Navy’s western fleet, enhancing operational reliability and supporting mission-critical functions that strengthen the country’s national security,” Eos reminded everyone.

More Energy Storage For The USA

The new zinc battery is just one indication that the US energy storage industry is set up for another banner year, Trump or no Trump. Other signs abound. The oil and gas legacy firm Hunt Energy, for example, has tasked its Hunt Energy Network branch with introducing Quidnet Energy’s new long duration “water battery” to the Texas grid.

Another energy storage startup to watch is the up-and-coming US renewable energy firm Sunraycer Renewables. Last week, Sunraycer closed on a $200 million credit facility managed by HPS Investment Partners, in support of the firm’s 4-gigawatt solar and energy storage portfolio. Like Hunt and Eos, Sunraycer is eyeballing the Texas market along with markets covered by the MISO, CAISO, and PJM grid networks.

Sunraycer’s contribution is a development tool it calls the “Accelerant Program,” which provides financing and operational services for smaller-scale developers. “The program’s success has enabled Sunraycer to become an asset to the industrial power client community with an ever growing share of large data center operators as key partners,” the company notes.

Meanwhile, up in Canada the global firm Canadian Solar also made a big move last week. It signed a battery delivery deal with the renewables-plus-storage firm Aypa Power. Aypa is already converting Idaho into a solar-plus-storage powerhouse. Now it has its sights set on California, where it will install an 806 megawatt hour (DC) battery array with Canadian Solar’s SolBank 3.0 lithium iron phosphate batteries.  Aypa will also deploy SolBank batteries in a new 998 megawatt-hour array in Texas.

As for the future of the US energy storage industry, February 24 the US Energy Information Agency noted that the utility-scale battery storage sector added a record 10.3 gigawatts in capacity last year. They expect 2025 to blow past that mark by a wide margin, at 18.2 gigawatts.

“This growth highlights the importance of battery storage when used with renewable energy, helping to balance supply and demand and improve grid stability,” EIA observed.

You can say that again.

Photo (cropped): The US startup Eos Energy Enterprises is scaling up production of its nonflammable, “Z3” zinc battery for long duration, utility scale energy storage. (courtesy of Eos).