According to U.S. Vanadium on 31 January, 2022, it had completed a $2 million expansion of its capacity to produce ultra-high-purity electrolyte used by Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (“VRFBs”) at its Arkansas manufacturing facility. The production of electrolyte began in the fourth quarter of 2021 in the new facility and they continue to produce electrolyte to meet orders they have in hand from several customers. And after thius expansion, USV can now produce up to 4 million liters / year of ultra-high-purity VRFB electrolyte, analyzed with a state-of-the-art system that can measure impurities down to parts per billion.
USV produces ultra-high-purity electrolyte and other high-purity vanadium-based products by recovering contained vanadium from a variety of post-industrial waste streams, which underscores USV’s commitment to maximizing sustainable practices in its operations. USV’s recycling of waste streams also allows it to produce vanadium products with a much smaller carbon footprint than primary vanadium mining operations.
US Vanadium produces the world’s highest-purity vanadium oxides at its Hot Springs facility. The availability of extremely pure vanadium oxides is the critical component of the VRFB electrolyte supply chain. The new electrolyte production facility is adjacent to the vanadium oxide production facilities and puts US Vanadium in the unique position of controlling the entire supply chain for ultra-high-purity vanadium electrolyte. In addition to the production of electrolyte, high-purity vanadium oxides from the Hot Springs facility support production of titanium alloys in the U.S. that are critical for defense, commercial aerospace, and industrial applications. US Vanadium also supplies high-purity vanadium oxides and downstream vanadium chemicals to various chemical and catalyst production applications.
“We are very pleased to announce the completion of this major expansion of our ability to produce ultra-high-purity electrolyte for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries,” said USV CEO Mark A. Smith. “This milestone establishes Arkansas and the U.S. as a major global producer of this high-value material, and we look forward to seeing our ultra-high-purity electrolyte used in battery applications for renewable energy systems around the world.”
USV currently is producing electrolyte for an 8-megawatt-hour resilient microgrid system operated by Enerox GmbH “Enerox”), which sells its systems under its brand name CellCube, to be installed at a manufacturing facility in Illinois. In September 2021, USV and Enerox announced a purchase agreement for 580,000 liters of USV-produced ultra-high-purity electrolyte by Enerox. That sales agreement is believed to be one of the largest such procurements of ultra-high-purity electrolyte known to have been secured by a VRFB electrolyte producer outside China. Four million liters/year of ultra-high-purity VRFB electrolyte can enable reliable power backup for approximately 73 megawatt-hours of renewable energy each year.
About VRFB Technologies
VRFBs are rechargeable batteries that take advantage of the fact that vanadium ions in different oxidation states can efficiently store chemical potential energy. VRFBs allow for an almost unlimited energy capacity, can be completely charged and discharged without damage, have very long cycle lives (at least 15,000-20,000 charge/discharge cycles), and can remain unused for long periods without permanent effects to the system. Because of their nearly unlimited energy storage capacity, high efficiency, zero emissions, very long cycle lives, and relatively low cost of available electricity on a lifecycle basis, VRFB energy storage systems are enabling consumers to utilize renewable energy systems for 100% of their actual power needs without having to rely on renewable energy credits and other accounting offsets.
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