A Canadian-owned Chinese flow battery maker has signed a deal aimed at boosting the global take-up of its vanadium flow batteries.
The framework cooperation agreement between China’s Pangang Group Vanadium and Titanium Resources and Canadian-owned VRB Energy will ensure a “stable vanadium electrolyte supply” for VRB’s proprietary vanadium redox batteries.
Beijing-based VRB— a majority-owned subsidiary of Canadian metals and mineral exploration firm High Power Exploration— said it has more than 30 megawatt-hours of batteries installed and under construction worldwide.
Pangang will also help VRB to improve its products by setting up a new joint venture to expand production of vanadium electrolyte, the companies said.
VRB’s CEO John Wang said: “Stability in vanadium electrolyte pricing and a leasing option will lower the barrier of entry for many of our customers and enable the increased adoption of VRBs worldwide.”
VRB, formerly known as Pu Neng, was founded in Beijing in 2006.
BBB reported in 2017 that VRB had won contract to provide “China’s largest flow battery” as part of a pilot energy storage project in central China’s Hubei Province.
