Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc. has announced that it is receiving advisory services and up to $500,000 in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).
The funding is to support a research and development (R&D) project titled, “Improvement of sub-component efficiencies of the Zinc-air battery system“. Under this agreement, NRC IRAP will provide advisory and funding support to Zinc8’s R&D division on this 2-year project aiming to improve individual sub-component efficiencies by material and process variations for its patented ‘Zinc-air Energy Storage System (ESS)’. The system efficiency will be improved by reducing the overpotential of the electrochemical reactions, whereas the operational efficiency will be improved by reducing potential parasitic losses. NRC IRAP’s support will allow Zinc8’s R&D division to deploy resources to optimize critical components of the system, aiming to improve Zinc8’s ESS round-trip efficiency. It is intended that the project will increase Zinc8’s product visibility in the market.
This support comes in addition to an ongoing 6-month project on techno-economic assessment and competitive landscape analysis of the flow-battery technology, where NRC IRAP is providing Zinc8 with up to $75,000 in R&D funding.
“The support from NRC IRAP will help us accelerate Zinc8 Energy Solutions’ committed efforts to deliver a low-cost, long-duration energy storage system by establishing solid technical foundations for our next-generation zinc-air fuel cell and zinc generator,” – said Dr. Simon Fan, CTO and VP of Product Management of Zinc8 Energy Solutions – “Integrating these new stacks into future energy storage systems will unlock the full potential of Zinc8’s proprietary Zinc-air technology by maintaining its cost and performance competitiveness in both the commercial and industrial (C&I) and utilities markets.”
With respect to employee support and engagement activities, the Company granted an aggregate of 800,000 restricted share units (RSUs) to certain key executive and non-executive employees in accordance with the Company’s Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP). The RSUs vest in stages as follows: 400,000 RSUs vest in stages with 25% vesting on the date of January 5, 2023, 25% vesting on April 5, 2023, 25% vesting on July 5, 2023, and 25% vesting on October 5, 2023; 400,000 RSUs vest as to 86,250 on June 5, 2023, and the balance of 313,750 vesting on or before June 4, 2025, based upon the achievement of certain performance-based milestones.
All the RSUs are subject to a deferral right whereby the holder can defer any vesting date at their option, on five days prior written notice to the Company and in accordance with the terms of the RSU grant notice, to the earlier of the date of a change of control of the Company and the date the holder ceases to provide services to the Company and to be an eligible participant. The RSUs and underlying common shares are subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of grant in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. A copy of the LTIP is available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR.
