Presentation Title: Unlocking Productivity and Cost-Effective Electrification with XNO®: Haul Trucks to AI Data Centres

Abstract: 

    Mining haul trucks and AI data centres appear to have nothing in common, yet both need a battery that charges as fast as it discharges, cycles thousands of times a year, and cannot be allowed to fail. Incumbant battery technology cannot do this, so battery systems are oversized and the overall costs remain too high. XNO®, Echion's niobium-based anode material, enables battery systems that can operate at 10C and above, lasts tens of thousands of cycles, and is commercially available at scale. This talk covers two applications. The hybridisation of ultraclass haul mining trucks using XNO® packs, delivering payback in under two years, now in trial in Western Australia. In AI data centres, there is potential for >80% lower capital costs using XNO®, and significant growth in the sector.

Biography: 

    Dr Alex Groombridge is co-founder and CTO of Echion Technologies, a global battery technology company enabling industrial electrification. He is responsible for Echion's technology and the industrialization of its XNO® niobium-based technology platform, which brings fast-charging, long-life and safe lithium-ion batteries for industrial applications. Under his leadership, Echion has grown from a university spin-out into a global battery business, with XNO® available at 2,000 t/y scale and deployed in various applications around the world. Alex holds a PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Cambridge. He is associated with the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Chemistry.