Aluminum is more widely available and costs less compared with traditional lithium metal batteries.
Eqonic Group, a U.K.-based battery technology company, has confirmed that aluminum is the core material of its new lithium-free, sodium-free and rare-earth-free composite battery technology.
The company is progressing this technology—which targets material costs of just 30 percent those of traditional lithium metal batteries—toward industrial validation, which Eqonic says is a “critical milestone” on the path to a market-ready product.
Eqonic will move this proprietary aluminum-based technology out of the laboratory and into industrial-scale testing to prove manufacturability, performance and reliability at the volumes required for commercial deployment.
Aluminum is more widely available from responsibly managed, well-established supply chains, Eqonic says, in contrast to lithium, sodium and rare earth materials, which remain exposed to cost volatility, geopolitical tension and export restrictions.
Eqonic says its aluminum-based chemistry and architecture are inherently nonflammable, eliminating the thermal-runaway risk that has driven most battery fires in conventional systems, while supporting the company’s target manufactured cost of $67.76 per kilowatt-hour at scale.
“Aluminum-based chemistry gives us everything we set out to achieve—material abundancy, high levels of safety and low cost—without the trade-offs that lithium, sodium and rare earth materials carry,” says Jas Kandola, founder and CEO of Eqonic Group. “Confirming the chemistry is one part of the story; progressing towards industrial validation is the part that matters most, and that’s exactly where our focus is now.”
In June, Eqonic was selected for the U.K. government’s 452 million-pound (approximately $613 million) Battery Innovation Program to accelerate development of a replica of its manufacturing process.
In May, the company also announced a collaboration with the Barton Knight Group, a U.K.-based National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting-approved electrical contractor.
The companies say the collaboration establishes a long-term framework to jointly supply, install and maintain battery storage and renewable energy systems for customers across the U.K.