Novonix makes further battery inroads in North America with new Canadian partner

Lithium-ion battery play Novonix (ASX:NVX) has announced a strategic partnership with Canadian-listed Emera Technologies, as the company targets market opportunities in North America.

The deal will see the two companies team up to develop and manufacture energy storage systems.

Teams at at Novonix and Emera have actually been working together to develop a battery pack that would support the BlockEnergy macrogrid requirements.

BlockEnergy is a micorgrid power and battery business launched in 2020 by Emera, and was billed as the first utility-owned community microgrid platform. Emera CEO, Rob Bennet, explained that BlockEnergy is essentially a residential, plug-and-play microgrid system installed in a housing complex.

“A nanogrid connected to rooftop solar, the box contains control electronics, an energy storage battery and an inverter that converts the microgrid’s direct current power to alternating current for use inside the home,” Bennett said.

Opportunities in North America

Co-founder and CEO of Novonix, Dr Chris Burns, believes there is a significant market opportunity for this product in North America.

“The BlockEnergy project is a great example of applying our technology to real life projects and developing systems with specifications not available currently in commercial products, and that have tangible downstream applications,” said Dr Burns.

“This project brings the opportunity to partner on not only the development but also manufacturing of new battery systems with significant market opportunities. The target market is not limited to the United States but will also include a focus on opportunities and customers here in Canada,” he added.

Novonix has been pushing to develop its business in the continent. The company recently extended its research partnership with Dalhousie University in Canada. Under the new extension, Novonix would contribute C$1.11 million over five years in return for intellectual rights.

In January, the company announced that its wholly owned US subsidiary PUREgraphite was awarded a US$5.57 million grant funding from the US Department of Energy to develop its battery technology.

It’s also working closely with ASX-listed Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) to process lithium from Lake’s Kichi brines and turn them into lithium-ion battery test cells.

Novonix’ stellar run

The company’s share price has been on a great run over the course of 12 months. In February 2020, its share price was trading at 30c, and has since rocketed up by over 900%.

It rose by over 5% after today’s announcement to $3.04.