Echion and Proper Voltage to co-develop 1.6MW UPS rack
VaultX cabinet
Echion has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with battery systems technology developer, Proper Voltage. The MoU will see the partners integrate Echion’s XNO® battery technology into Proper Voltage’s 480V and 800V Vault uninterruptible power supply (UPS) platform, with the view to launching a jointly developed system branded VaultX for energy buffering and outage bridging in AI data centres.
This partnership aims to address the unique power demands of AI training clusters. Graphics processing unit (GPU) workloads shift tens of megawatts on and off within milliseconds, forcing operators to size their utility service, switchgear, and generation systems for transients rather than for average load. With interconnection queues in major markets now measured in years, effective transient buffering inside the facility will enable operators to convert grid capacity they already hold into usable computing output.
Echion’s novel XNO® anode material has been identified for its unique ability to sustain symmetric high-rate charge and discharge, which is critical to efficient AI data centre operation where power demand from training workloads can cause megawatt-scale power swings almost instantaneously. Endurance is equally critical, with buffering duty in AI data centres demanding up to 10,000 equivalent full cycles per year – a load XNO® is engineered to absorb without trading away intrinsic safety.
VaultX will integrate XNO® cells into Proper Voltage’s existing Vault architecture, shortening the path to deployment and significantly advancing the speed at which data centre operators can benefit from XNO®’s unique capabilities. It will deliver next-generation UPS with 1.6MW of power, 84kWh capacity, and 480V or 800V rack configurations. Both companies will be jointly presenting on VaultX at the 2026 OCP Global Summit on 12-15 October.
Jean de La Verpilliere, CEO of Echion, said: “AI data centres need exactly what XNO® was built for, which is extremely high charge and discharge rates sustained across tens of thousands of cycles. Our materials and cells are built for duty cycles that aren’t survivable for conventional chemistries and collaborating with Proper Voltage enables us to implement these capabilities in a market-leading UPS platform and ensure that operators can benefit from VaultX in the shortest possible amount of time.
“Conventional chemistries can deliver serviceable discharge but cannot safely handle the continuous and instantaneous high-C-rate charging that AI data centres require. XNO® addresses this. Operators will soon be able to incorporate a single system that serves both the backup mission and continuous load buffering. I look forward to working with Proper Voltage to launch what has the potential to be a step-change product to the market.”
Charlie Welch, CEO of Proper Voltage, said: “Our architecture was purposely designed so that operators can adopt new and emerging battery technology without redesigning their power systems, which is why integrating XNO® into our Vault architecture is straightforward. What this system changes for an operator is the business case. A UPS that also buffers load stops being an asset that sits idle between outages and starts earning its footprint every day. We recognise the impact that XNO® can have on data centre operations and its symmetric power capabilities fundamentally change what a data-centre UPS can do to support emerging GPUs and ease the stress placed on upstream grid infrastructure. It’s exciting to be moving into the next phase of a project with this much potential to shape AI infrastructure.”
XNO® is a patented niobium-based anode chemistry that enables lithium-ion batteries to safely charge or discharge in 3-6 minutes across more than 50,000 cycles (at 5C,10-90% state of charge (SoC)). It has been engineered for the highest productivity and lowest total cost of ownership in AI data centre energy storage, as well as electrified heavy-duty industrial, commercial and mass-transport applications.
Proper Voltage develops control and integration technology that decouples battery chemistry from voltage constraints. Its Vault architecture actively regulates voltage across the full state of charge, allowing advanced batteries to operate reliably inside real-world power systems without redesigning those systems or compromising uptime. That enables XNO® to perform at its peak within existing data centre infrastructure, allowing both brownfield and greenfield AI facilities to deploy load buffering and outage bridging UPS and Sidecar solutions.