‘It’s Up to You New York, New York’ …. & Energy Storage?
INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed Ron MacDonald.
As reported in New York’s Energy Storage Roadmap developed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Public Service, “energy storage will play a critical role in supporting New York’s decarbonized electric grid by integrating large quantities of variable renewable energy, reducing curtailment, and storing renewable generation for the times it is needed most.”
The New York Governor Hochul announced in her State of the State a goal to double the state’s 2030 energy storage deployment target, from the currently legislated 3 gigawatts (GW) of storage to 6 GW of storage, with an interim goal of 1.5 GW by 2025. This nation-leading storage target is driven by the quick growth in renewable energy expected over the next decade and the role that electrification of transportation and buildings will play in achieving New York State’s future carbon neutral economy.
“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere. It’s up to you New York,” may be the mantra of Zinc8 Energy Systems, a Canadian energy storage start-up, getting a warm embrace from the highest levels of State government to plant its manufacturing center in New York state. With $50M in development to create a leadership position in zinc air battery technology to-date, the road to building the company’s inaugural manufacturing facility will require significantly more capital for the plant to be built, staff hired and availability of the company’s zinc air battery technology energy storage systems.
While Zinc8 is a Canadian company, their country, while supportive of their technological innovations, did not provide the welcome wagon that New York State did. On the heels of shepherding clean energy investments via the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer surprised Zinc8’s CEO, Ron MacDonald, with an impromptu early morning call in the summer of 2022, followed up with a news release urging Zinc8 to “expand their operations in Ulster and bring hundreds of clean-energy jobs to the Hudson Valley at Ulster county’s TechCity campus, now known as iPark 87.
On January 26th, Gov. Hochul held a press conference announcing that Zinc8 “will locate its first commercial manufacturing facility and American headquarters in Ulster County.”
Ron MacDonald, formerly a senior member of Canada’s Parliament, says the private sector is a hard place to be every day. “There are unique challenges and opportunities on the road to building the company’s first commercial manufacturing facility which will employ up to 500 Americans,” says Ron MacDonald, President & CEO, Zinc8 Energy Solutions.
In the last few weeks, Zinc8 was issued a $10M non-taxable revenue bond from Ulster County Industrial Development Agency, $9M in inducements to manufacture in New York State and up to $500K funding support from National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).
Check out more national news stories here.
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The Price of Business is one of the longest running shows of its kind in the country and is in markets coast to coast. The Host, Kevin Price, is a multi-award winning author, broadcast journalist, and syndicated columnist. Learn more about the show and its digital partners at www.PriceofBusiness.com (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
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