Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) has successfully deployed its vanadium electrolyte in a vanadium flow battery (VFB) for Horizon Power’s site in Kununurra, Western Australia.
The company recently completed factory acceptance testing (FAT) of the VFB with electrolyte produced from its Perth facility, marking a milestone first for AVL.
The VFB was supplied by leading global manufacturer Invinity Energy Systems, which approved the use of AVL’s electrolyte against stringent quality standards.
Horizon Power is WA’s regional energy provider. The use of long duration energy storage in the form of VFBs could assist Horizon Power to accelerate the decarbonisation of its 140 energy networks spread throughout a service area covering 2.3 million square kilometres.
The 220 kilowatt hour (kWh) VFB, which can deliver up to 78kW of power, is now en route to Kununurra for installation and site acceptance testing as part of Horizon’s long duration energy storage pilot.
“Over the past months the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, VSUN Energy, has collaborated closely with Horizon Power to successfully integrate its preferred hardware with the battery,” AVL chief executive officer Graham Arvidson said.
“This is a true testament to our vertical integration strategy, with the ultimate goal of using vanadium oxides processed from the Australian Vanadium project in our vanadium electrolyte.”
With the completion of FAT, the VSUN Energy team welcomed staff from Horizon Power to view the battery and learn about its potential to address the significant demand for long duration energy storage, which provides support to electricity grids increasingly powered by variable renewable energy such as solar and wind.
AVL is advancing the development of its world-class Australian Vanadium project at Gabanintha, which is touted to be one of the most advanced vanadium projects being developed globally.
The company recently welcomed millions in support from the Federal Government for research and development.
“Vanadium’s value chain is a compelling opportunity for Australia, and we will be able to help bring the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia plan to fruition through our ‘pit-to-battery’ strategy,” Arvidson said at the time.
“Australia has significant vanadium resources and as only one key metal, vanadium, is required in vanadium flow batteries, a sovereign battery supply chain entirely based in Australia is within reach.”
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