High-tech battery company looking to expand

A Columbia Falls area company is looking to take its industrial battery business to the next level as it begins to implement large-scale energy storage solutions for the U.S. and Europe.

VIZn Energy, formerly Zinc Air, has been developing an industrial battery system that stores large amounts of electricity since 2009. But the technology has been put to use in just the past year.

VIZn’s batteries are huge — a single battery can be the size of a shipping container. Each consists of two large tanks holding liquid electrolytes, pumps and a “battery stack” of patented zinc membranes that store the energy.

The company’s batteries boast several advantages over other industrial-sized units that use lead-acid, lithium-ion or molten-sodium technologies, VIZn president and CEO Craig Wilkins claimed during an open house last week.

For one, VIZn’s battery technology is environmentally friendly, he said. One electrolyte is commonly found in Drano drain cleaner, and the other is commonly found in sunscreen. While caustic to skin, once exposed to the atmosphere it quickly becomes an inert substance.

VIZn’s batteries also doesn’t heat up and catch fire like as other battery technologies, he said. In addition, the compounds used in the battery are easy to ship across the world. Zinc is a common metal, and the electrolyte solutions are easy to obtain worldwide, Wilkins said.

The company also claims its batteries have a long life — up to 20 years — and cost about half of comparable systems.

In addition, the company has crafted a remote software system to control the batteries. An engineer can monitor a unit using a smart phone, chief operating officer John Lowell explained.

The market for large storage batteries is evolving as the use of alternative energy like solar and wind expands across the U.S. and Europe. Solar and wind systems, while environmentally friendly, stop producing electricity when the sun goes down or the wind doesn’t blow.

VIZn’s batteries can store electricity when solar or wind systems are generating power and release it when they’re not. Currently, utilities use natural gas or diesel generators to augment power supplies when “green” technology is down. The end result is that a utility’s carbon footprint remains the same, Wilkins said.

The Columbia Falls location won’t be used to build batteries in the future, Wilkins explained. It’s a research and development facility, and because of transportation costs, the big batteries will be built on the West Coast.

The company also has a European partner in Austria — they recently took an order for a 3.25 megawatt system to be installed there, Wilkins said.

Last year, Flathead Electric Cooperative installed one of VIZn’s batteries as a test unit. The battery is used to store electricity when power costs are low and release it when power is more expensive.

Located on U.S. 2 south of Highway 40, VIZn has about 37 employees and salaries average $72,000, Wilkins said.

The company chose the Columbia Falls area because of its proximity to Semitool, now Applied Materials, for its expertise in plating technology, Wilkins said, and also because of Columbia Falls’ great quality of life.

“Montana has been one of the big selling points,” Wilkins said.

And Flathead Valley investors have shown an interest in the company. To date, VIZn has seen about $18 million in private investment, Wilkins said, with about 60 percent of that coming from the Flathead.