Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) subsidiary VSUN has welcomed the arrival of its highly-anticipated vanadium flow battery (VFB).
The battery arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, and will be transported to AVL’s newly completed vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility for factory acceptance testing.
From there the battery is destined for utility company Horizon Power’s site in Kununurra, WA.
“The arrival of the vanadium flow battery for VSUN Energy’s Horizon Power project demonstrates another key step in AVL’s ‘pit to battery’ strategy,” AVL chief executive officer Graham Arvidson said.
“We are looking forward to working with Horizon Power to successfully deliver this project, allowing the utility to benefit from the role that VFBs can play in enabling decarbonisation and providing reliable, low cost, long duration grid energy storage, with the potential for high levels of local content when coupled with AVL’s WA-made vanadium electrolyte.”
Horizon Power entered into a contract with VSUN Energy in July 2023 to purchase its first VFB.
The battery, which was supplied by leading global manufacturer Invinity Energy Systems, will be used for a long-duration energy storage pilot in Kununurra.
Western Australia Energy Minister at the time the project was first announced, Bill Johnston, said the delivery will help the state lead the way in clean energy technology.
“Vanadium redox flow batteries are specifically designed to deliver energy over a long period of time, which is crucial for achieving the high levels of decarbonisation we are after,” he said.
“If the pilot is successful, there is potential to expand the use of long-duration, 100 per cent renewable energy across Horizon Power’s 2.3 million square-kilometre network.”
The 220kWh battery, which can deliver up to 78kW of power, will undertake FAT early this year. During the FAT process, VSUN Energy will host a number of industry participants to view the battery.
Tests of the VFB will be held in conjunction with Horizon Power and will aim to demonstrate a variety of use cases.
After final project components are received by Horizon Power, the battery will be deployed to a site in Kununurra for VSUN Energy to install and commission.
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