Flow battery firm VRB Energy aims to accelerate growth following investment from Thailand renewable energy companies BCPG.
VRB will use the $24 million to support the rollout of its Gen3 VRB-ESS vanadium redox flow battery, expand manufacturing capacity and vertical integration of vanadium processing.
The investment includes the two firms working together to add storage to existing and planned projects to optimise system performance and revenues, as well as exploring other business development opportunities in Thailand, including “localisation of manufacturing”.
BCPG’s support validates VRB Energy’s advanced-flow battery technology as the ideal solution for integrating solar and wind power across the region.
VRB Energy chairman Robert Friedland said the investment reinforced their belief that flow batteries were a game-changing technology, and would be a catalyst for integration of “massive amounts” of renewable energy around the region.
Pichai Chunhavajira, BCPG’s chairman, will be appointed to the Board of Directors of VRB Energy upon the completion of the transaction.
Beyond the Asia-Pacific region, VRB Energy is in discussions with developers and utilities in the US, Europe and South Africa for 100MW-class PV+VRB projects.
In March, VRB Energy announced a framework agreement that set out plans for a gigafactory, R&D institute and energy storage system deployment in China.
The plans included a 100MW/500MWh vanadium flow battery integrated power station project.
Photos: VRB Energy’s quality assurance team performing final inspections on the cell stacks and electrolyte tanks of the 3MW / 12MWh VRB-ESS at the Hubei Xiangyang project.
