A message from NAIT Applied Research:
You'd be forgiven for walking into Keith Cleland's space at NAIT's Centre for Grid Innovation (CGI) and having no idea what it is that he and his company, Aqua-Cell Energy, have built.
To the untrained eye, the device is an indecipherable collection of hoses, valves, gauges, small plastic tanks, and, anchoring it all, what resembles an undersized gurney surfaced with a thick blue metal plate. A "high-voltage" sticker on it adds a sense of danger to the mystery.
But that sticker also hints at the machine's purpose. While it bears no resemblance to, say, the ubiquitous alkaline cell that powers a flashlight, or the increasingly recognizable, boxy lithium ion cells that set EVs in motion, Cleland's device is a battery. And it's one of a kind, built onsite in partnership with staff from NAIT's Applied Research group.
It may, however, prove to be as transformative as its more common counterparts. Since arriving at CGI around the middle of 2023, Aqua-Cell has been driven by primarily one goal: to harness the power of renewable energy. But just as its battery runs counter to expectations, the company intends to do that harnessing in a uniquely sustainable way.
Hence the hoses and tanks. Aqua-Cell's battery – big enough to provide power at an industrial scale – runs on inexpensive, safe, and readily available saltwater. That leads naturally into Aqua-Cell's other, loftier goal.
"We would like to be a key part of the clean-energy transition," says Cleland.
Read the rest of Scott Messenger's story in techlifetoday to find out more about how Aqua-Cell fills a gap in the energy-storage market.
_Learn about NAIT Applied Research's expertise in cleaner energy solutions