Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) has launched operations at its new vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in Western Australia with the successful production of its first high-purity vanadium electrolyte, ready for use in vanadium flow batteries (VFBs).
AVL said independent analysis has confirmed that the purity levels of the electrolyte are well within the expected range for VFB manufacturers.
The electrolyte will now be provided to manufacturers for formal qualification for use in their batteries with AVL anticipating vanadium electrolyte will be made in batches to order at the new factory in the Perth suburb of Wangara.
“The completion of the facility, coupled with the confirmation of the production of on-specification vanadium electrolyte from Western Australia’s first manufacturing facility, achieves another major milestone for AVL and is a positive reflection of the technical and operational expertise within our organisation,” AVL Chief Executive Officer Graham Arvidson said.
“We are ready to accept orders for electrolyte and are actively pursuing sales.”
The manufacturing facility, with a production capacity of up to 33 MWh of VFB energy storage annually, is the centrepiece of AVL’s complete ‘pit to battery’ strategy that aims to provide a full-cycle vanadium supply chain from mining to battery production.
The vanadium pentoxide used for electrolyte manufacture will initially be sourced from United States-based specialty chemical producer U.S. Vanadium (USV), prior to supply being available from AVL’s own Australian Vanadium Project being developed near the mining town of Meekatharra in Western Australia’s mid-west.
AVL said vanadium electrolyte produced at the new Perth facility will initially be employed in VFB projects being developed by subsidiary VSUN Energy.
It has also signed a series of supply agreements including with Western Australia’s regional power provider Horizon Power which has signed an agreement for the purchase of a 78 kW/220 kWh VFB that will be installed at Kununurra as part of a long-duration energy storage pilot program.
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