Australia's federal government has committed millions of dollars in funding to companies involved in the lithium and flow battery value chain as part of a broader commitment to support the country's resources and critical minerals sectors. Eight companies were also announced to receive funding from the Modern Manufacturing Program, including Western Australia-based Australian Vanadium (AVL), a vertically integrated vanadium redox flow battery energy storage business. Vanadium Australia will receive A$3.9 million in funding to rapidly ramp up its manufacturing capacity.
The Australian government has been heavily criticised for not setting a legally binding target for carbon neutrality like other countries. In a press release that did not specifically mention climate change, decarbonisation or clean energy, Australian Industry, Science and Technology Minister Christian Porter spoke of Australia's importance as a "key leader" in the modern resources, manufacturing and related technology sectors .
Australian Vanadium says the funding it has received will allow the company to commercialise the production of vanadium electrolyte for flow batteries, which will also allow the company to finalise the construction of a high-purity vanadium pentoxide production line and provide housing for residential and Standalone Power System (SPS) applications to produce flow battery systems.
The company established its subsidiary VSUN Energy as its battery energy storage system manufacturing and design division. VSUN Energy is developing vanadium extraction and processing resources in Western Australia to supply products and services to steel producers and flow battery producers. Its projects have been awarded the Australian Government Major Project Qualification and have been awarded a similar designation by the Western Australian Government.
"This funding will allow us to add further value to the vanadium products we plan to produce in Australia from a proposed vanadium mine project in Western Australia's Midwest," said Vanadium Australia. The funding will support our production of high-purity vanadium pentoxide, which will be used in vanadium-titanium alloys for steel production and vanadium electrolytes for flow batteries."
In addition, it is reported that existing junior vanadium producers Largo Resources and Bushveld Minerals are pursuing similar strategies in the battery energy storage market as demand for long-term energy storage systems rises. LargoResources already operates several vanadium mines and processing plants in Brazil, and has established an energy storage business, LargoCleanEnergy, in the United States, which manufactures and deploys flow battery systems for global markets.
Bushveld Minerals is operating a vanadium mine in South Africa and is currently building a vanadium electrolyte production plant through its subsidiary Bushveld Energy. It is understood that BushveldMinerals does not intend to develop and produce flow battery systems itself, but the company has partnered with and invested in several manufacturers in the field, including InvinityEnergySystems and Austrian company Enerox-CellCube. Last September, Vanadium Australia also signed an agreement with local supplier Enerox-CellCube.
