Beyond Lead-Acid and Lithium-Ion: How Nickel-Zinc is Powering the Future of Data Centers

Data centers face the challenge of balancing industry demands – telecom, e-commerce, AI, and more – with rising sustainability expectations. As critical infrastructure, even seconds of downtime can mean lost data and revenue, making reliable UPS backup systems essential.

For many decades, lead-acid batteries remained at the core of backup power, providing the reliability and power required for an always-on world, at an accessible price point. The absence of shipping restrictions and the ability to provide back-up power, additionally ensured this chemistry’s stake in the market. Though, despite its legacy of consistency, the low-energy density, space requirements, and shorter lifespan of lead-acid left an opening for a more compact and long-lasting solution.

Lithium-ion chemistry, commonly used in consumer products, quickly gained popularity as a UPS solution due to its high-energy density and long lifespan. Able to provide the same power at a much smaller size and weight than lead-acid, lithium-ion remains a strong contender and stalwart choice in many data centers. However, safety remains a major concern with this chemistry, as demonstrated by incidents across several industries.

Any number of factors, including high temperature or cell failure, can lead to thermal runaway and the output of flammable, toxic gases. This, in addition to the challenging extraction process of a limited lithium supply, provided an opportunity for alternative chemistry. In the last decade, nickel-zinc (NiZn) has challenged traditional solutions as a highly power-dense technology that meets the reliability demands of a data center, while touting many safety, cost, and sustainability benefits.

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