Australian startup Gelion is seeking to commercialize a non-flow zinc-bromide battery based on a stable gel replacing a flowing electrolyte. According to the manufacturer, the device is safe, robust and recyclable. //

but when the company began its deep design studies with an undisclosed global partner during the pandemic, it arrived at the conclusion the smartest way to commercialize the Endure battery would be to switch the design to a parallel plate lead-acid format.

The battery is described as suitable for for irrigation, water purification and desalination systems, remote communities, mining facilities and agriculture.

Two things preceded this decision. The first was the complexity of building new manufacturing capability, and the second was the fact access to capital for such an endeavor is effectively hamstrung in Australia due to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s rules.

“If you want to produce something in a factory here, you need to have a factory reference plant the same size or bigger that has been operating for two years and that allows you to have full emissions data of the factory. That means you can never build a new factory here for new technology because you’ve got to prove it somewhere and you can’t prove it here,” said Maschmeyer. “If you can hook onto something that already exists, it’s much better …"