Vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals’ strategy to establish itself in all stages of the vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) value chain will benefit the local economies of three of South Africa’s provinces, claimed Bushveld Minerals subsidiary Bushveld Energy business development manager Neo Kgatuke at the Mpumalanga Energy Summit in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, on May 25.
The company’s vanadium processing plant Vanchem is also located in eMalahleni.
Bushveld Energy is also building a vanadium electrolyte production plant in partnership with development finance institution the Industrial Development Corporation.
The plant will be the largest plant of its kind outside of China and is under construction in East London, in the Eastern Cape.
Kgatuke said each of these plants were sources of jobs and local procurement for their respective local economies.
VRFBs are a necessary part of the just energy transition, providing large-scale energy storage capacity of the type required for the storage of energy when, for example, solar and wind energy fails to generate during periods of no wind or sunshine.
“Stationery storage applications are critical for energy security in municipalities and large cities, and Bushveld Energy provides viable energy storage solutions. Our solutions allow them to store electricity from all sources, for use when it is most needed by residents,” Kgatuke concluded.
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