Date: Jun 29, 2018
BEIJING and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Robert Friedland, Chairman of VRB Energy, and John Wang, Chief Executive Officer, announced today that the company has entered into a Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement with Pangang Group Vanadium and Titanium Resources Co. Ltd. (Pangang V&T). Pangang V&T is the world’s largest producer of vanadium oxide and a listed subsidiary of Panzhihua Iron and Steel, one of the world’s leading steel producers since 1971.
The strategic agreement paves the way for VRB Energy and Pangang V&T to jointly advance the vanadium flow battery industry through a long-term vanadium supply commitment, cooperation on electrolyte leasing, and technology collaboration on VRB Energy’s world-leading VRB® (vanadium redox battery) energy storage systems. The agreement specifically contemplates an equity investment by Pangang V&T into VRB Energy, with the scope for the potential investment to be defined in the coming months.
“VRB Energy is honored to strategically partner with Pangang V&T in the joint development of the vanadium flow battery industry. In addition to being the world’s largest supplier of the key ingredient in VRB systems, Pangang V&T is also passionate about developing the industry as part of its corporate commitment to promoting value-added downstream uses for vanadium,” said Mr. Friedland.
“The world will see more than 1,000 gigawatts of battery capacity added between now and 2050 in support of integrating renewable energy, and our VRB technology is ideally suited for this. A stable vanadium electrolyte supply from Pangang V&T, together with our most advanced, safest and reliable VRB technology will allow us to meet this rapid, long-term growth in demand for utility-scale energy storage.”
