Battery Technology Climate Impact and Sustainability

ZincFive is offering a 30-minute webinar featuring ZincFive’s Sr. VP, Steve Jennings, and Boundless Research Analyst Andreas van Giezen, who present Boundless’ independent analysis of the Climate Impact Profile for nickel-zinc, lead-acid, lithium-ion and sodium sulphur batteries. The life cycle assessment details key parameters such as greenhouse gas emissions, water footprint, energy footprint and carbon payback of these battery chemistries. Join this deep dive into battery sustainability factors to determine the best choices for your organization.

Length
30 minutes with Q/A

Speakers
Steve Jennings – ZincFive
Andreas van Giezen – Boundless Research Analyst

ZincFive webinare on nickel-zinc climate impact report

Register to Watch


How IEEE’s Energy Storage Documents Help Users Choose the Best Battery

November 22, 2021
Stock image

Energy storage technology has come a long way since the days of watermills and the first rechargeable battery. We now have a wide range of battery technologies to choose from, including lithium-ion, sodium-beta, lead-acid, nickel-zinc and others.

As the number of options on the market continues to grow, choosing the storage technology that is best suited for your particular application has major impacts on cost, energy efficiency and safety. The modern grid, data centers and smart devices all share the need for reliable energy storage solutions, and so also share the need for guidance on which technology is the best fit.

That’s why the Energy Storage and Stationary Battery (ESSB) Committee, which is part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society (PES), provides the industry with the most comprehensive guides, recommended practices, and standards for the major categories of stationary energy storage technology. IEEE’s 1679 document family helps users, integrators and servicing organizations compare traditional stationary battery technologies with newer, advanced technologies, helping to guide the user in the selection of the best battery type for their needs.

The Parent Document for Energy Storage Comparisons: IEEE 1679-2020

Originally published in 2010 and updated in 2020, IEEE 1679-2020: Recommended Practice for the Characterization and Evaluation of Energy Storage Technologies in Stationary Applications provides a foundation to objectively evaluate and compare different available energy storage technologies. These publications lead battery storage buyers through data and decisions to help them understand key principles and make prudent decisions according to the performance envelope of an energy storage product. Such data includes, but is not limited to:

  • Evaluation techniques
  • Description and characterization of the technologies
  • Qualification testing
  • Applications

IEEE 1679-2020 is an overarching “parent” document: it is a Recommended Practice document and must be used to properly utilize the following “child” documents, each of which provides information and guidance for a specific energy storage technology or family of technologies.

IEEE 1679’s Children

Each of the IEEE 1679 child documents are Guide documents. They are frameworks for developers and manufacturers to describe their products to provide standardized, objective criteria for buyers. The four child documents include two published guides, one each for lithium and sodium-beta battery technologies in stationary applications. Two other energy storage technologies, flow and alkaline batteries, have draft guides under development.

Each guide helps buyers understand and compare a storage technology by including the technology’s:

  • Intended applications
  • Aging mechanisms and failure modes
  • Testing for abuse tolerance and fault tolerance

Evaluation techniques:

  •  Application considerations
  •  Safety
  •  Life-cycle costs

Each guide also includes its subject’s unique needs and strengths. For example, the sodium-beta battery guide addresses those batteries’ high-temperature design and need for specific control systems. The flow battery guide explains flow batteries’ unusual ability to grow energy storage capacity without affecting the power rating.

Where do ZincFive’s nickel-zinc batteries fit in? Our product type is covered in the alkaline battery draft, which addresses zinc-based and alkaline electrochemistries other than nickel-cadmium (which the IEEE has already documented). This guide includes nickel-iron, nickel-zinc, nickel-metal hydride, and zinc-manganese technologies. Guidance on nickel-zinc batteries can prove especially useful for those in the data center, intelligent transportation system and other standby uninterruptible power supply industries.

Is the Family Expecting an Addition? Several, hopefully!

Currently, all energy storage technologies documented in the IEEE 1679 family are electrochemical. As other energy storage products (e.g. supercapacitors, flywheels, “gravity”-based devices besides pumped hydro, and other battery technologies) are commercialized and begin to be deployed in higher numbers, we can look forward to potential child documents for them as well.

For now, if you’re considering an energy storage purchase for stationary applications, IEEE 1679-2020 and its children are an invaluable tool to help you effectively evaluate which technology is the best choice for you.

Author
Dan Lambert, ZincFive Codes & Standards Specialist
Dan Lambert
Senior Product Manager, ZincFive
Dan has over 40 years of commercial and industrial electrical experience and has worked with AC and DC power systems, with a primary focus on mission-critical power systems. Working with stationary battery systems since 1985, Dan has worked with many battery chemistries and has contributed to large scale energy storage analysis projects, as well as testing other storage systems. Dan is currently a member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society serving as the chairperson for the IEEE Energy Storage and Stationary Battery Committee’s IEEE 1679.4 Alkaline Chemistries Working Group and is a member of the Battcon conference Technical Committee.
Tags:
  • batteries, 
  • data centers, 
  • high power density, 
  • IEEE, 
  • immediate power, 
  • reliability, 
  • uninterruptible power supply

Zinc Technology Advances Across Energy Storage Markets – And Not Just Our Own

October 6, 2021
ZincFive nickel-zinc cyclinderical batteries that are safe, powerful, reliable and sustainable

It’s an exciting time to be in the energy storage business!

In a prior blog post, A New Initiative Celebrates Performance, Safety and Sustainability of Zinc Batteries, we talked about our membership in the Zinc Battery Initiative (ZBI), an initiative created by the International Zinc Association to educate about the advantages and uses of rechargeable zinc batteries across a variety of applications.

Today we want to celebrate some good news from another ZBI company, Eos Energy Enterprises. Eos recently announced a $100 million investment to support its strategic growth initiatives. That’s quite a show of support!

Eos Znyth® technology is an excellent choice for long duration (3-12 hour) energy storage. Long-duration batteries can smooth out the variability of renewable energy by providing reliable power to entities throughout the electricity ecosystem: from utilities to industrial and commercial sites. Their zinc technology helps to lower the levelized cost of storage and increase the amount of renewable energy that electric grids and power uses can access around the clock.

Zinc’s strategic advantages for energy storage

Eos is not the only player in the long-duration energy storage market. What’s behind their momentum and this big new investment? It’s the strategic advantages that zinc brings to Eos batteries – and to ZincFive’s nickel-zinc battery solutions designed for data centers, intelligent transportation and more.

Safety

With energy storage becoming more widely used and energy dense, safety of personnel and facilities is a top concern. Eos technology uses aqueous technology that is less flammable than lithium-ion chemistries, reducing the risks to store and provide power in hot, dense places. Being nonflammable and free of thermal runaway risk, they do not require fire suppression systems, and there are lower restrictions for ship and installation.

NiZn technology is inherently safer than lithium-ion and lead-acid in applications such as data centers. NiZn batteries do not exhibit thermal runaway, as proven through testing at the cell level using the Underwriters Laboratories UL 9540A test method[1]. These batteries are also non-flammable and exhibit a reduced volume of out-gassing in abusive situations.

Efficiency

Since the Eos product is less complex than other long-duration systems, it is inherently more efficient. It is fast to install, easy to maintain, and cost-effective to run across a wide temperature range. In addition, it is designed for 100% depth of discharge, allowing use of the full rating of the system.

ZincFive’s NiZn batteries improve efficiency in similar ways. To start, ZincFive NiZn batteries have the highest operating temperature of available data center technologies which reduces the need for cooling equipment and power. In addition, ZincFive’s NiZn batteries have twice the power density of lead-acid batteries, and so can reduce battery footprint and weight by as much as 50%. These and other advantages reduce up-front and ongoing costs associated with energy storage.

“These are the start of a long list of reasons why zinc technology is very competitive in today’s energy storage markets.”

Sustainability

Sustainability is becoming a requirement across many large industries, so the growth of energy storage must reflect this priority. ZincFive’s NiZn chemistry is easier on the environment than the alternatives for data centers. In a recent Climate Impact Report performed by Boundless Impact Research & Analysis, ZincFive’s NiZn batteries ranked higher than lead-acid and lithium-ion chemistries in several criteria including avoided greenhouse gases (GHGs), carbon return on purchase and carbon payback time.

Eos technology is a much more eco-friendly option than lithium-ion systems. No toxic materials are used in manufacture, and all components are fully recyclable. According to Eos, the residual value from recycling covers all end-of-life costs, an important economic consideration for some public utilities.

Scalability

Interestingly, using a sustainable supply chain also makes a technology more scalable. As Eos puts it, “Less precious materials = more scalability.” Its systems use off-the shelf components with no precious or conflict materials. As a result, Eos claims its manufacturing process can scale up deployment of a gigawatt-scale factory in just six to nine months.

ZincFive’s NiZn battery technology is also based on highly available materials, so it avoids concerns around finding reliable, conflict-free sources. The technology can be produced using manufacturing lines already producing similar chemistries. The sky’s the limit for ZincFive NiZn.

These are the start of a long list of reasons why zinc technology is very competitive in today’s energy storage markets. As you can see in Eos and ZincFive, zinc is often the best battery choice for the criteria that matters most. Now there’s an exciting business to be in!

Tags:
  • batteries, 
  • design, 
  • high power density, 
  • reliability, 
  • uninterruptible power supply

A New Initiative Celebrates Performance, Safety and Sustainability of Zinc Batteries

April 28, 2021

It’s not often an industry throws a party, but the Zinc Battery Initiative (ZBI) sure feels like one to us.

The fun started last year when the International Zinc Association formed ZBI to promote rechargeable zinc batteries’ remarkable story and promote their advantages across many applications. While each participating member has its own proprietary technology, all share zinc as a common ingredient in delivering high-performance, safe, and environmentally sustainable batteries.

We’re excited to mix our NiZn chemistry in the festivities and spread the word about zinc.

Let’s take a spin through the three key topics organized in the ZBI website (zincbatteryinitiative.com):

  1. Unrivaled Performance: Zinc batteries offer flexible designs with the broadest operating temperatures, highest power discharge in seconds to one hour, and long-duration storage.
  2. Safest Battery Technology: Zinc batteries are non-flammable and offer a safer alternative to non-zinc battery chemistries.
  3. Sustainable: Zinc batteries are non-toxic, recyclable, and made from abundant and inexpensive materials.

“Zinc batteries offer a wider operating temperature range, longer calendar life, and a lower cost per kilowatt hour than today’s leading batteries, including lithium.  They can also support long-duration storage, are environmentally friendly and sustainable.” – ZBI

Unrivaled Performance

Batteries are essentially just so much dead weight if they can’t compete on performance. The Zinc Battery Initiative starts here, pointing out the superior energy and power density of the technology. Zinc batteries also provide maintenance-free operation over a long cycle life, do not sulfate as lead-acid ones do, and operate over a wider temperature range. That’s why zinc batteries are competitive in a wide range of demanding commercial and industrial applications.

The Initiative lists long-duration renewable energy storage as a promising market, such as scaling up the hundreds of megawatt hours that an electrical utility or large plant needs. For more common energy storage applications, nickel-zinc batteries already achieve the highest power density of mainstream rechargeable battery chemistries. In data center and transportation market uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications, for example, our NiZn batteries have twice the power density of equivalent lead-acid batteries at one-half the weight.

That’s hardly a fair rivalry.

Safest Battery Technology

The second category the initiative touts is Zinc’s proven safety record. To begin with, Zinc batteries are not flammable and do not run the risk of thermal runaway or off-gassing.  As a result, they do not require excessive thermal management or high capacity fire suppression systems, as lithium-ion energy storage systems do.

We’ve got the proof. Our NiZn batteries have been tested according to UL 9540A (UL’s Test Method for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems) all the way down to the cell level, and do not exhibit thermal runaway. When putting battery backup into valuable compute racks in a data center or a transportation cabinet near the public, you want assurance that no accidental fire will put the public, your employees or equipment at risk.

Unlike lithium-ion products, Zinc batteries are non-toxic, and can be shipped, installed and maintained with no hazard worries or special requirements. These safety advantages can make Zinc batteries more affordable in many applications as well as safer.

Sustainable

As industries electrify and battery backup becomes widespread, sustainability has become one of the top criteria for global corporations. Zinc batteries check this box too, being made from abundant and inexpensive materials, and made available through well-established supply chains in every region of the world.

The ZBI’s website is clear on this advantage: “Zinc is the fourth-most used metal worldwide, behind iron, aluminum, and copper.  Further, the world is naturally abundant in zinc, and resources are available to meet future demand for many generations.  By contrast, lithium batteries depend on raw materials that are too scarce to enable the widespread and rapid transition that the realities of global warming demand.”

Consider the recent Climate Impact Profile on NiZn batteries  issued by Boundless Impact Research and Analytics. Boundless analyzed the climate impact of the ZincFive NiZn battery technology, taking into account key performance indicators such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water footprint, energy footprint, and hazardous material requirements, scoring ZincFive’s NiZn batteries at 9.4 with 10, which represents the highest positive environmental impact score.

The report touches on another sustainability advantage: Zinc technologies are more recyclable too. According to the ZBI, “Zinc recovered from batteries can be recycled through well-established channels and, unlike lithium, reused in new batteries.”

With ZincFive’s NiZn technology, both nickel and zinc can be recycled while maintaining their physical and chemical properties, making NiZn one of the most recyclable battery chemistries. In fact, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has defined a Green Technology Battery Backup System (GT-BBS) standard that utilizes NiZn battery-based backup systems as a green alternative to lead-acid battery backup systems.

See the zinc advantage at ZincFive

Well, the party has started, and you are invited. Learn more about the advantages of our Zinc battery technology by reading more of our articles and blog posts , or watch a webinar.  Feel free to contact ZincFive today if you’d like to discuss your application. See you there!

Tags:
  • batteries, 
  • high power density, 
  • NFPA 855, 
  • safety, 
  • uninterruptible power supply

Comparing the Climate Impact of Batteries on Data Center Sustainability

March 9, 2021
ZincFive paper on nickel-zincs climate impact

To make deeper cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, data center operators need to take a look at the bigger picture.

In a prior blog post, we pointed out how lead-acid batteries are a data center sustainability challenge hiding in plain sight. Lead-acid batteries contain significant amounts of lead and other hazardous materials that create a highly pollutive and hazardous recycling process. In fact, environmental organizations have identified used lead-acid battery recycling as the world’s #1 pollution problem.[1]

Lithium-ion batteries are not much better. For example, the extraction of lithium has significant environmental and social impacts, from water pollution and depletion to leaching, spills and air emissions of toxic chemicals.[2] And that’s simply for manufacturing: lithium-ion batteries do not yet have a clear, self-funded path to recyclability at end-of-life.

It’s for reasons like these that a recent Climate Impact Report gave NiZn batteries the best climate impact score for any backup battery technology—9.4 out of 10.  Let’s look deeper at the paper’s analysis to understand the bigger picture of how backup batteries impact data center sustainability.

Superior GHG emissions savings

The most direct way to evaluate environmental impact is by comparing a battery’s Carbon Return on Purchase (CROP) with that of other chemistries. CROP measures the greenhouse gases (GHG) avoided per kWh of customer energy storage.

In the report from Boundless Impact Research & Analytics[1] which was reviewed by an independent battery industry expert, analysis showed that ZincFive’s NiZn batteries offers six times or more avoidance of GHG emissions compared to lithium-ion and four times more compared to lead-acid chemistries.

The Climate Impact Profile also compared the battery chemistries for Carbon Payback Time: the Time required for emissions savings from the product’s use to offset the GHG of its production. Comparing production and product use, the authors concluded that NiZn had, by far, the shortest Carbon Payback Time. Li-Ion and Lead-Acid batteries exhibit roughly 400% longer Carbon Payback Time.

A much higher CROP and shorter Carbon Payback Time contribute to superior GHG reductions using NiZn battery technology.

Yet there’s more to the picture.

Lower environmental impact across several dimensions

This chart from the Climate Impact Report presents a bigger picture how the backup battery chemistries compare in four other dimensions associated with the manufacturing process of the batteries:

  • Product GHG: The NiZn battery GHG Footprint of producing the battery was estimated to be significantly lower than the manufacturing GHG Footprint of lithium-ion, lead-acid, and sodium sulfur batteries.
  • Energy Footprint: Energy Footprint of the NiZn battery was estimated to be between 20 and 35 percent less than lithium-ion batteries, sodium sulfur batteries and lead-acid pure lead batteries during the manufacturing process.
  • Water Footprint: The NiZn battery Water Footprint during production was estimated to be 96% lower than the average for lithium-ion batteries.
  • VOC Footprint: Unlike lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, the NiZn battery does not use VOCs in production.

Alignment with U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

The Climate Impact Report also explains how the advantages of NiZn technology impact the environment in line with the relevant impact categories and codes defined by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Now picture how NiZn batteries can help your data center optimize sustainability.  Click here to get your copy of the Climate Impact Profile by Boundless Impact Research & Analytics.

[1] Pure Earth/Green Cross 11th annual 2016 report, “World’s Worst Pollution Problems” https://www.worstpolluted.org/2016-report.html, “World’s Worst Pollution Problems”, Fact Sheet – Lead-Acid Battery Recycling and Lead Pollution; https://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/133

[2] https://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/publications/13_factsheet-lithium-gb.pdf

[3} https://www.zincfive.com/climate-impact-profile-registration

Author
Steve Jennings, ZincFive SR VP Sales & Marketing
Steve Jennings
Sr. VP Sales & Marketing, ZincFive
Steve leads the ZincFive sales and marketing team and brings senior executive experience in technology companies serving the energy, clean tech, communications, computing and semiconductor industries. Steve and his team are focused on providing superior performing, safer and greener energy storage solutions based on nickel-zinc batteries to mission critical applications in the data center, IT and intelligent transportation markets.
Tags:
  • batteries, 
  • Climate Impact, 
  • data centers, 
  • sustainable

Nickel-Zinc: High Power Density Backup Power for Data Centers

February 9, 2021

The Powerful and Safe Bet for the Data Center Footprint Challenge

Data center real estate is always at a premium. Every square foot used for servers and storage can generate more revenue. So reducing the power infrastructure footprint can boost revenue, impact safety and also has implications for backup capacity. We call this the Footprint Challenge.

For decades, the industry has relied on lead-acid backup batteries that have a large, heavy footprint. Some data center operators are looking to lithium-ion batteries for their smaller footprint and lighter weight. However, concerns over safety with lithium-ion energy storage systems have driven additional placement spacing requirements by the NFPA 855 standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, requirements that can effectively cancel out the footprint savings of lithium-ion systems.

Safety measures eat up footprint

Energy storage system footprint is largely determined by battery power density. Yet a battery must deliver energy safely to realize power density-driven footprint reduction and savings. Without safe energy delivery, the authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) have no choice but to enforce placement restrictions and other safety measures such as enhanced fire suppression that negate any footprint advantages.
High power density batteries that can operate safely are the right step to overcoming The Footprint Challenge. Understanding that lithium-ion batteries are not the right answer, let’s look at why lead-acid batteries can’t meet the challenge, then meet the type of battery that does—nickel-zinc (NiZn).

What you need is a power battery

To see why lead-acid batteries are a dead-end, you should know the fundamental differences between an “energy” battery and a “power” battery. If you are in an electric vehicle (EV), energy density is most important: being able to discharge the energy out of the battery at a lower rate for as long as possible to limit range anxiety. Billions of dollars are being spent globally to increase the energy density of EV batteries.

This won’t help your data center Footprint Challenge!

Data center backup batteries must discharge the battery at a high rate for a short period of time to maintain operations while long term power systems such as generators spin up. Battery power density is what delivers high rate discharge, ideally in a relatively small footprint.

A lead-acid battery is an “energy” battery, meaning the data center industry has been using the wrong tool for the job for a long time. NiZn batteries are “power” batteries that give you an edge in the Footprint Challenge.

Power density with inherent safety

With about twice the power density of lead-acid batteries, NiZn batteries are well suited to data center backup power applications. Backup systems available today based on nickel-zinc batteries offer the industry’s smallest footprint and lightest weight per watt in solutions ranging from 1 kW to 2MW. That’s the magic of power density.

Backup systems based on nickel-zinc batteries offer the smallest footprint and lightest weight per watt in solutions ranging from 1 kW to 2MW.

Unlike lithium-ion, NiZn technology has no inherent safety issues. To demonstrate this, we turn to the test method titled UL 9540A, Test Method for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems. This UL test method is referenced in the NFPA 855 standard to assist AHJ’s in interpreting and enforcing NFPA 855 for different battery chemistries.Underwriters Laboratories tested ZincFive’s NiZn batteries at the “cell level”, the most fundamental level in the test method. ZincFive’sNiZn batteries did not exhibit thermal runaway in any of the five arduous and destructive test types that comprise the UL 9540A test method.

A high power density battery that delivers energy safely – it looks like we found a winner in the Footprint Challenge!

Now many battery manufacturers have had their batteries tested to the UL 9540A test method. You should understand that the UL 9540A test method allows different levels of testing in which a manufacturer can include a battery management system (BMS) and other safety measures in order to complete the tests without exhibiting thermal runaway. But make sure you ask what level of UL 9540A testing they used. Wouldn’t it be better to start with a power-dense battery chemistry that is fundamentally safe at the cell level?

Author
Steve Jennings, ZincFive SR VP Sales & Marketing
Steve Jennings
Sr. VP Sales & Marketing, ZincFive
Steve leads the ZincFive sales and marketing team and brings senior executive experience in technology companies serving the energy, clean tech, communications, computing and semiconductor industries. Steve and his team are focused on providing superior performing, safer and greener energy storage solutions based on nickel-zinc batteries to mission critical applications in the data center, IT and intelligent transportation markets.
Tags:
  • batteries, 
  • high power density, 
  • power battery, 
  • uninterruptible power supply

Zinc Chemistry Challenges Lithium-Ion in 2021

February 9, 2021
ZincFive nickel-zinc cyclinderical batteries that are safe, powerful, reliable and sustainable

As we put 2020 in the rear-view mirror, most of us are anxious for a return to something resembling “normal” in 2021. But one area that is rapidly changing (and never going back) is energy storage.

Zinc chemistry will be one of the factors driving change this year.

An increasing number of industries are transforming due to rapidly improving battery technologies: from utility-scale energy storage at the large scale to ultra-small wearable goods at the small end. Lithium-ion technology has become the 800-lb gorilla in energy storage, displacing lead-acid batteries in some markets while creating entirely new markets.

In 2021, we’re going to see the most substantial challenge yet to lithium-ion energy storage by batteries based on zinc chemistries. Zinc has always had certain advantages over lithium: higher power density, greater reliability, safer operation and superior sustainability. Various configurations of zinc batteries are available with some noticeable advantages over lithium-ion batteries.

Safety and reliability suit lighter wearables

On the one hand, manufacturers can use safe and reliable Zinc chemistry to make batteries smaller than equivalent lithium-ion devices for many consumer markets. For example, zinc-air batteries deliver light weight and very small size by using oxygen in the air as a reactant, instead of a liquid or solid-state reactant. This explains their wide use for powering hearing aids. Now rechargeable zinc-silver batteries are replacing lithium-ion devices in new generations of consumer devices, wearables, and other products because of size and safety advantages.[1]

When power density is more important than energy density

On the other hand, high power density makes zinc battery technology a strong competitor in certain industrial applications. In this case it’s important to understand the differences between an “energy” battery and a “power” battery. An energy battery is engineered to provide power for a long period of time, at a lower rate of discharge. For example, lithium-ion batteries are the usual choice for electric vehicles (EVs), because providing energy over hundreds of miles of use is a critical requirement!

The other category—the power battery—can discharge at a very high rate for a relatively shorter period of time. High power density within a battery suits many industrial applications that need to quickly tap a power source for a short period of time. Zinc technologies are well suited to power batteries, able to sustain high-rate charge/discharge cycles safely and reliably.

Nickel-zinc moves into data centers

To illustrate, one large and growing industry segment with an urgent need for power on demand is the data center market. The need for backup power to keep important services online is accelerating as hyperscale data centers proliferate, and more technologies such as IoT and 5G drive the need for edge computing to reduce the response latency of their services. These trends are making data center architectures more distributed, so continuous uptime at every facility is critical for service performance and reliability.

In 2021, nickel-zinc (NiZn) batteries will gain momentum in data center markets, driven in large part by superior power density, safety, reliability and sustainability. NiZn batteries are smaller and lighter than the typical lead-acid batteries, so they can meet the power requirements of hyperscale data centers as well as the space constraints of the edge data centers.

NiZn chemistry is a “power battery” technology well suited to keeping data centers operating during a power outage. Unlike lithium-ion batteries (and lead-acid batteries, for that matter), NiZn batteries keep operating even when one or more cells in a battery string becomes weak or depleted. This attribute significantly increases reliability for mission critical applications.

Safety and sustainability for many markets

NiZn chemistry also makes data centers (and other applications) safer and more sustainable. In particular, ZincFive’s NiZn batteries are tested at the cell level to UL 9540A, a test method for evaluating thermal runaway fire propagation, and have not exhibited thermal runaway in any of the tests. This fundamentally safe battery chemistry reduces battery system costs and enables lower costs of construction, installation and operating expense due to reduced safety precautions.

Finally, a recent Climate Impact Report gave NiZn batteries the best climate impact score for any backup battery technology—9.4 out of 10. As sustainability becomes a top priority across major corporations, NiZn looks better and better.

In 2021 and the years beyond, these advantages position NiZn technology for not just for data centers, but also for aviation, EV charging, renewable energy storage and other markets.

Move over, lithium, zinc battery technology is the new “power player.”

 

[1] https://www.zpowerbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ZPower-FAQ-Electronic-Design.pdf

Tags:
  • batteries, 
  • data centers, 
  • high power density, 
  • nickel-zinc, 
  • uninterruptible power supply