KEY POINTS
CEO, Graham Arvidson commented, “AVL is extremely grateful to have been supported by the Australian Government to build and bring our vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility into operation, particularly at this pivotal time of transforming Australia into a renewable energy superpower. Having this production facility in Western Australia forms part of the Company’s ‘pit to battery’ strategy, which also comprises mining and processing of vanadium in the State and further downstream activities in the vanadium flow battery market. In addition, we have been able to produce ultra-high purity vanadium products and begin development of a residential vanadium flow battery prototype and stand-alone power system.”
The grant was awarded as matched funding, mainly to support the design and construction of the Company’s vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility, which has successfully produced its first high purity vanadium electrolyte.3
Vanadium electrolyte is a key component of vanadium flow batteries (VFBs). These batteries are well suited to large-scale energy storage applications, as required for electrical grids. They offer a high capacity for energy storage and a long cycle life, having the ability to be charged and discharged repeatedly with minimal degradation over the extremely long battery life.
The electrolyte manufacturing facility was officially opened in January 2024 by the Federal Resources Minister, the Hon. Madeleine King MP.
The grant funding also provided for the inclusion of the design of an ultra-high purity processing circuit to produce chemical and master-alloy grade vanadium pentoxide as part of the development of the Australian Vanadium Project. The Company recently announced the achievement of ultra-high purity 99.9% V2O5 through testwork undertaken with Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).4
The grant also part-funded the Company’s development of a prototype residential VFB and stand- alone power system based on a VFB, for the Australian energy market. The prototype residential VFB has been designed with 5kW of power and 15kWh of stored energy capacity. With the battery’s characteristics of flexibility, minimal degradation in performance over a 25-year lifespan and non- flammability, it has the potential to be a highly desirable product for homeowners looking for an alternative to a lithium-ion battery solution. Development of the prototype continues and is expected to be installed at a residential property in due course for further testing by AVL’s 100% owned VFB- focused subsidiary VSUN Energy.
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