Construction of vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility begins

Construction of Australian Vanadium’s (ASX:AVL) vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility in WA has begun.

Australian Vanadium has appointed engineering group Primero Group, a subsidiary of NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH), to construct the facility with most long lead items now received.

Further, experienced operations professional Simon Rough has been appointed to safely manage the facility through construction and into production. His extensive experience in vanadium processing and sulphuric acid production makes him a perfect fit to lead the team to successful production of high-quality electrolyte.

The facility is designed to produce up to 33MWh per year of vanadium flow battery (VFB) high purity electrolyte.

Australian Vanadium holds the exclusive licence of US Vanadium’s LLC (USV) process technology for manufacturing vanadium electrolyte for Australia and New Zealand.

Until production of vanadium oxide from AVL’s Midwest processing hub begins, vanadium oxide feedstock for the electrolyte facility will be sourced through AVL’s agreement with USV and third-party sources.

Australian Vanadium chief executive Graham Arvidson is satisfied with the progress being made.

“It is satisfying to see the progress being achieved by the team as AVL’s vanadium electrolyte manufacturing plant starts to take shape,” he said.

“Using USV’s proven electrolyte manufacturing technology, AVL aims to become a trusted supplier of vanadium electrolyte within Australia and beyond.

“The implementation of the electrolyte plant provides an ideal opportunity for AVL to put into practice, test and further mature its systems, processes and management systems that will ultimately underpin the larger Australian vanadium project.”

Australian Vanadium is aiming to produce vanadium electrolyte for commercial use in vanadium flow batteries by November 2023 and is working on offtake agreements for the produced product.