A letter addressing the issue states the Department of Energy “twice handed over vanadium redox battery technology created by scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,” in violation of its own licensing stipulations.
This refers to the 2017 sublicense issuance to Chinese company Dalian Rongke Power Co. Ltd. and the 2021 full license issuance to Dutch company Vanadis Power. The latter’s website states the company’s intent on Chinese manufacturing. According to the letter, these licensing agreements occurred while “several U.S. companies simultaneously sought the same license from DOE.”
As reported by the Daily Wire, the development of a “vanadium redox flow” battery, which is patented by the U.S., “could store energy to power a house for 30 years” and make solar power more reliable.
In 2012 Gary Yang, a scientist who helped develop the technology, was licensed the patent by the U.S. government for the commercialization of the product.
Yang’s firm UniEnergy is responsible for the transfer of licensing to both Dalian Rongke and Vanadis Power through DOE approval, and the letter criticizes the DOE for “failing to crack down on these violations,” which allowed Dalian Rongke Power Co. Ltd. to “become the global leader in the manufacture of vanadium redox flow batteries.”
According to an August report by NPR, American energy company, Forever Energy, has “raised concerns” to the DOE in the past regarding UniEnergy’s license being out of compliance, to no avail. Currently, the DOE has revoked the license. However, Forever Energy executives fear the U.S. will face difficulty catching up due to the lengthy process and does not believe China will stop its manufacturing regardless of its licensure revocation.
The Inspector General’s letter concludes, “If the facts … are accurate, we are concerned that this is an overt dereliction of duty by DOE, and that this case may be emblematic of a department that routinely and flippantly permits government-funded technology to be transferred to China.”
www.ferroalloynet.com
