Welcome to another edition of Aqueous Battery Brief, a news roundup created specifically for aqueous battery professionals. Estimated reading time: 2 – 3 minutes. Not yet a subscriber? Join here.
Adoption, Deals, and Tech
$15M to Offgrid Energy for Zinc-Bromine
India’s Offgrid Energy Labs has raised $15M to develop its zinc-bromine-based battery. Per the company, the technology delivers 80-90% of the energy efficiency of conventional lithium batteries, at a significantly lower levelized cost. Read the news in TechCrunch.
The Unique Chemistry – and Unique Origins – of Coulomb Technology
New Energy New York’s premier ChargeUp Accelerator offers a deep dive on one of its newest cohort members: Coulomb Technology. Read more about Coulomb’s unique alkaline-based sodium-zinc chemistry, co-founder and CTO Subathra Rajendran’s unlikely start in the oil and gas industry, and more in this feature from New Energy New York.
Chinese Manufacturers: Time to Reign in Cutthroat Competition
Chinese energy storage manufacturers are looking to reign in the sector’s fierce competition. Alarmed by the potential for a race-to-the-bottom on price and quality, 150 Chinese battery firms “are advocating for price control, higher standards and reforms that will safeguard quality and ensure long-term stability” within the country. Get the story in ESS News.
Water-Based Deep Dives
Zinc-Bromine Flow: Best BESS for Rural Electrification
“Rural communities in Bangladesh face persistent energy access challenges due to geographic isolation and inadequate infrastructure,” explains the abstract of a just-published study in Frontiers in Energy Research.
To help chart a path to sustainable rural electrification in Bangladesh and similar regions worldwide, the authors ran a simulation of off-grid hybrid microgrids including four distinct energy storage options: ZnBr Flow, Li-Ion NMC, Lead-Acid, and LiFePO4.
The findings: Zinc-Bromine Flow outperformed against the other options – with lowest net present cost and cost of energy, 100% renewable fraction, and zero carbon emissions. Access the study.
The Many Benefits of Zinc
Helmholtz-Institut Münster and others have collaborated on an expansive look at zinc-based batteries – including zinc-metal, zinc-air, and zinc-redox flow systems – from the technology’s origins to today.
The resulting study is a comprehensive view on the values of zinc as a highly sustainable, abundant, and potentially lower-cost alternative to lithium-ion. Read it.
Mark Your Calendars
Argonne National Laboratory’s Workshop on Pilot Lines for Emerging Energy Storage Technologies, Sept 18th. Details here.
Two Chances to Meet Octet
Octet’s Chief Commercial Officer Emily Dickens will present in two events this fall:
- As a speaker in the International Zinc Association’s 2025 Zinc Metal Roundtable (Nov 5 – 7) Learn more
- As co-chair of the Zinc Battery Committee at NAATBatt’s Sodium-Zinc Battery Workshop (Nov 18-19). Details & Registration
We’ll see you soon.
⚡ Deliver your most competitive aqueous battery. Schedule a consultation with Octet. 🔋