Vanadium flow battery facility opened in Queensland

Vanadium miner and manufacturer Vecco Group has officially opened its $26 million Townsville facility to manufacture electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).

The new facility will produce the electrolyte needed to manufacture vanadium batteries, an emerging battery technology that will be critical to support the world’s transition to renewable energy. Vanadium batteries in comparison with lithium-ion batteries last longer at up to 20 years, have lower rates of degradation and are almost 100% recyclable.

VRFBs were invented by University of New South Wales electrochemist Emeritus Professor Maria Skyllas-Kazacos and have some advantages over lithium-ion, in that they have a greater energy density and are not flammable. However, they are heavier than lithium batteries and thus are best suited for stationary uses such as at mines and remote communities.

VRFB systems, like any flow battery, use tanks to store an electrolyte — in this case vanadium, which stores the energy and is circulated through a cell stack to recharge or produce electricity. The architecture of a flow battery enables the energy storage capacity of the battery to be expanded by adding additional tanks and vanadium liquid.

VRB systems can also fully discharge, and charge, without damaging the battery and have negligible capacity degradation over time.

The Queensland Government has also announced that it will supercharge its CopperString 2032 project — a 1100 km high-voltage electricity transmission line from Townsville to Mount Isa — through a $1 billion down payment from coal royalties, $594 million of which is committed to start construction over the coming financial year.

A $20 million early works package for engineering and geotechnical work has been awarded to CIMIC Group companies UGL and CPB Contractors, bringing Queensland’s next mining boom in critical minerals one step closer.

This commitment paves the way for Queensland to use vanadium batteries in the Queensland SuperGrid, with Energy Queensland inking a deal with Vecco and Sumitomo Electric to trial a vanadium battery in South-East Queensland.

Energy Queensland and Vecco Group will also work together to assess the benefits and technical considerations for connecting more vanadium batteries to the electricity network.

“I want to see vanadium mined in Queensland, processed in Queensland and made into vanadium batteries here in Queensland,” said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the opening. “This is just the beginning of the manufacturing and mining jobs boom that our investment in CopperString 2032 delivers for North Queensland.

“Queensland has unique deposits of many of the minerals needed for the global energy transformation, along with the best mining and manufacturing workforce.”

“Vecco Group’s high-quality vanadium resource in North West Queensland provides an opportunity to build a Queensland vanadium mining and battery manufacturing industry,” said Vecco Group Managing Director Tom Northcott. “Vanadium flow batteries will play a significant role in the Queensland SuperGrid and we expect to see deployments of this proven technology accelerate as the local supply chain expands.”

The Palaszczuk government is investing $5 billion in Copperstring 2032, which will connect Queensland’s North West Minerals Province to the national electricity grid. The project includes an increased transmission capacity of 500 kV (from 330 kV) for the section of line between Townsville and Hughenden to unlock the renewable energy potential of the region. It will connect vast renewable wind and solar resources with critical minerals mining and processing that can be used to make batteries and renewables.

Early works have started with construction to start in 2024, and project completion by 2029.

Image caption: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the opening of the Vecco Group facility.