Vanadium is not a chemical element that is commonly associated with being important to battery manufacturing. But two companies in Australia are coming together to try to change that.
What’s happening:
- Australian Vanadium (ASX: AVL) and Technology Metals (ASX: TMT), two of the largest publicly listed vanadium companies in Australia, have merged to create one singular entity
- The new combined company is aiming to turn their vanadium supply into long duration batteries for harnessing renewable energy
The big idea:
- Through their subsidiary VSUN Energy, Australian Vanadium is developing innovative vanadium flow batteries that are capable of storing and redeploying renewable energy
- Vanadium flow batteries are optimal for off grid locations, which makes them an ideal battery to be used for renewable energy projects such as large scale solar farms
- Vanadium flow batteries can also be used to power residential homes, electric vehicles and even microgrids
By the numbers:
- The market capitalization of Australian Vanadium prior to the merger was approximately $170M
- The market capitalization of Technology Metals prior to the merger was approximately $67M
- Australian Vanadium has been awarded $49M in grant funding from the Australian government for exploration of their vanadium project
- Approximately 90% of the vanadium supply globally is used for steel
Going deeper:
- Technology Metals owns two of the premier vanadium properties in Australia, known as as the Gabanintha and Yarrabubba vanadium properties located in Western Australia
- Those properties will look to be a stable source of supply of vanadium for Australian Vanadium to accelerate their production of vanadium flow batteries for long duration energy storage
- Vanadium is roughly as abundant as copper or nickel, however it is one of the most expensive elements to actually mine and recover out of the ground which often causes significant volatility in the price of vanadium
