Updated 30 September
Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) announced the completion of factory acceptance testing (FAT) of a vanadium flow battery – the first produced using Western Australian-manufactured vanadium electrolyte, which was sourced from the company’s facility in Perth.
The vanadium flow battery (VFB) was supplied by flow battery manufacturer Invinity Energy Systems.
The VFB will be deployed at the Horizon Power site in Kununurra, Western Australia, for installation and site acceptance testing.
The company said the 220kWh VFB can deliver up to 78 kW of power. Horizon Power is Western Australia’s regional energy provider. It has 140 energy networks through its service area. AVL is hoping that adoption of long duration energy storage in the form of VFBs will assist with de-carbonisation of the area.
AVL’s CEO, Graham Arvidson, said: “We are pleased to report that the VFB purchased by Horizon Power has now completed the FAT process and is operating successfully. 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 said Invinity has confirmed that AVL’s electrolyte meets its quality specifications for use in the battery. AVL added it is committed to a pit-to-battery value chain.
Company spokesperson Sam McGahan said the plant is capable of producing the equivalent of 33MWh a year. “For larger orders we would build another plant, likely close to the battery’s installation point. We will manufacture to order rather than just running the plant all the time.”
She added the company has no offtake agreements. “That could come in the future, but that’s more of a mining process, where you need the offtake to get funding. This is more of a sales situation, where you get sales and then manufacture to fill that order.” It has sourced up to now vanadium oxides from US Vanadium in the US.
Photo: Horizon Power and VSUN Energy staff post FAT completion. AVL
