Adam Kuehne, Brian Dunn, HG Park, Steve Raeder, Justin Lee, Chris An, Sungbong Nam

Solar power developer Summit Ridge Energy (SRE) has signed an agreement with Qcells to purchase 1.2 GW of solar modules to support its development pipeline.

SRE says it will use the panels to develop more than 350 solar projects – largely community solar installations – over the next four years, with the first 200 MW to be installed before the end of this year. The agreement between SRE and Qcells also includes 20 MWh of energy storage.

SRE and Qcells also recently partnered to deploy three standalone energy storage projects in New York City that total more than 46 MWh and utilize Qcells’ Geli energy management system.

“This partnership will allow SRE to provide clean energy to more American communities and businesses, while simultaneously supporting our domestic manufacturing industry,” says SRE CEO Steve Raeder. “We must continue to find ways to bring affordable electricity to everyday Americans, particularly communities that have historically relied on fossil fuels.”

For its part, Qcells has plans to invest $2.5 billion to build a fully integrated, silicon-based supply chain in the United States, making the company the first to do so, it says. A majority of the solar panels purchased by SRE will be produced in Qcells’ U.S. manufacturing facilities.

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DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm

As a part of the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced five competitively selected higher education institutions to serve as Centers of Excellence for DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Program and will receive a combined $18.7 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Also, DOE has announced a $54 million funding opportunity from the law to expand the IAC Program to community colleges, trade schools, and union training programs, and create new Building Training and Assessment Centers (BTACs) at higher education institutions.

“Strengthening and diversifying the pipeline for high-quality manufacturing and building efficiency jobs is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create an economy that will allow our nation to reach its clean energy future,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “This is a direct investment in the next generation of American workers that will help ensure America’s global leadership in advanced manufacturing and green building technologies.” 

Over more than four decades, the IAC Program has provided more than 20,000 assessments at small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs), which comprise more than 90% of the nation’s manufacturing base. IACs typically identify more than $130,000 in potential annual savings opportunities for every manufacturer assessed. Today, DOE-supported IACs exist at 37 universities in 28 states across the country, with 17 of those institutions having participated in a pilot to provide similar assessments to small and medium-sized commercial buildings. 

The new Regional Centers of Excellence will enhance and expand the IAC Program by serving as regional hubs for the program that collaborate and coordinate with government, nonprofit, labor, and industry actors to train clean energy workers and support small- and medium-sized manufacturers in each respective regions. Two of the five selectees, and seven of the partnering institutions, are Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI).  

Each of the selectees will bring unique capabilities in strengthening the IAC network:

Great Plains Center of Excellence at Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK), in partnership with Northern Oklahoma College, Wichita State University, and the University of Nebraska, will advance the IAC network’s use of technology-driven assessments – including through use of mobile applications, drones, and virtual/augmented reality. This center will also deepen the IAC network’s partnerships with community colleges and Tribal communities. 

Southeastern Center of Excellence at Georgia Tech University (Atlanta, GA), in partnership with Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, and Kennesaw State University, will draw on these universities’ internationally renowned expertise in energy management, industrial electrification, and complex assessments.

Mid-Atlantic Center of Excellence at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), in partnership with West Virginia University, will expand the IAC network’s engagement with unions, trade schools, and community colleges, and develop new assessment methodologies to better serve small manufacturers. 

Gulf Coast Center of Excellence at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX), a national leader in remote and hybrid assessments, will accelerate the IAC network’s growing emphasis on industrial decarbonization, electrification, and resiliency planning. 

Western Center of Excellence at San Francisco State University (San Francisco, CA), in partnership with San Jose State University, San Diego State University, Laney College, and Cuyamaca College – a group of five leading minority-serving institutions –will apply their expertise in data-driven tracking to evaluate and improve manufacturer performance, renewable energy, energy demand management, thermal systems design, and waste and water management to enhance manufacturing competitiveness across the Western U.S.  

Learn more about each selection here.  

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A part of First Solar’s manufacturing line

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking feedback about the challenges and opportunities associated with scaling the domestic solar manufacturing workforce.

SETO is requesting input from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies and other stakeholders on job roles associated with operating U.S.-based manufacturing facilities involved in the production of:

photovoltaic (PV) modules (including crystalline silicon and thin-film)

semiconductor materials and components (e.g., silicon metal, polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells)

materials used to construct PV modules (e.g., solar glass, frames, encapsulants, backsheets, etc.)

other equipment associated with PV systems (e.g., inverters, power optimizers, racking, trackers)

SETO says the goal the RFI is to better understand the anticipated quantity, quality and accessibility of solar manufacturing roles, the required skill sets for these roles, any barriers likely to impact meeting the demand for qualified labor and potential solutions for overcoming these barriers.

Responses to the RFI must be submitted electronically to solarworkforce@ee.doe.gov no later than 5 p.m. ET on June 2.

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A rendering of Toyota’s new system

Huntsville Utilities, Toyota Alabama and Toyota Tsusho America Inc. (TAI) have finalized a power purchase agreement (PPA) that will support a 168-acre, $49 million solar project.

The 30 MW system will be located in the North Huntsville Industrial Park, surrounding the Toyota engine plant. It is expected to generate 62,000 MWh annually.

TAI’s Energy Infrastructure Solutions team is leading the project’s development and will manage the construction, scheduled to begin this spring. As the owner of the solar facility, they will also be responsible for long-term operations.

Huntsville Utilities has a long-term agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), where this new solar facility will be the largest flexibility project in the region.

“Huntsville Utilities is constantly looking for opportunities to innovate and enhance the nature in which we serve our community,” says Wes Kelley, president of Huntsville Utilities. “Due to our collaboration with Toyota, TAI and TVA, we are helping shape the future for communities and companies in the region and beyond.”

The solar facility is scheduled to begin energy next summer.

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A render of the project in Arizona, US. Image: SRP.

A 250MW/1,000MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Arizona will soon break ground, utility SRP and developer Plus Power said.

Construction on the Sierra Estrella Energy Storage project will start on 12 April, in a week’s time, they said in a media statement yesterday (5 April). It will serve SRP customers during times of peak demand on the grid and will help the utility integrate more renewable generation into the mix.

SRP announced the Sierra project in October 2022 and the four-hour lithium-ion BESS is expected to come online in summer of 2024. It is one of two large-scale projects the utility has contracted for which will help it achieve a doubling of its 400MW BESS capacity target by summer 2024, along with the 90MW/360MWh Superstition project, also from Plus Power.

Plus Power will design, build, and operate the Sierra project with batteries “assembled in the US”.

Plus Power used recently-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank to finance its 565MWh Kapolei project in Hawaii and declined to comment when asked by Energy-Storage.news what the implications of its demise were for that project.

While California and Texas remain the largest energy storage markets in the US by some distance, several large-scale projects in Arizona mean it’s quickly becoming noteworthy to those in the industry. Recent projects Energy-Storage.news has reported on include an 860MWh project system integrator Powin is deploying and a co-located 600MWh one being developed by renewable energy firm BrightNight.

On the upstream side, Arizona is also the site for two lithium-ion gigafactories being built by US firms Kore Power and American Battery Factory, both of whom firmed up their site selections last year. Lithium-ion battery recycling firm Li-Cycle has also opened a ‘spoke’ facility in Arizona to collect battery material to send to its recycling plant which will open in New York.

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Dominion Energy Virginia has issued a request for proposals for the acquisition of new solar, onshore wind and energy storage development projects in Virginia.

Acquisition of the projects will support Virginia customers’ future energy needs as outlined in the company’s most recent Integrated Resource Plan. The projects will also help the company achieve the requirements of the Virginia Clean Economy Act and its commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Proposals will be accepted on a continuous basis throughout the year. The company is interested in proposals for new solar PV nameplate capacity, as well as new solar PV generation co-located with energy storage nameplate capacity.

For solar proposals, the company is seeking both utility-scale projects that are greater than 3 MW, as well as distributed projects that are 3 MW or less. For all proposals, the company will only consider facilities located in Virginia.

For distributed projects that are 3 MW or less, the facilities must be located within the utility’s service territory where there are location grid benefits to customers.

The company also encourages the submission of solar and onshore wind projects on previously developed sites, such as former landfills or industrial uses.

Dominion Energy Virginia will host an informational webinar for interested bidders at 1 p.m. EST on May 4. Prospective bidders may sign up for the webinar on the company’s website.

Photo by Mariana Proença on Unsplash

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A render of e-Zinc’s battery storage next to a solar farm. Image: e-Zinc.

Long-duration energy storage (LDES) firm e-Zinc is targeting a gigafactory in the US by 2025 and is considering adjusting its planned project with Toyota Tsusho, it told Energy-Storage.news.

Newly-appointed CCO and US country manager Balki Iyer discussed e-Zinc’s technology, go-to-market strategy, projects and more during an interview at Energy Storage Summit USA last week. Iyer, who joined after two years as CCO for another zinc battery firm Eos, also commented on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, with which e-Zinc had recently raised a debt facility.

Technology and cost comparison with lithium-ion

The company’s battery technology uses zinc and offers a duration of 12-100 hours which Iyer said provides a lot of flexibility to grid operators, utilities and IPPs.

“This is important because energy market needs are ever-evolving. Because things are moving faster than what we all anticipated. You’re in an environment which is changing so rapidly, yet we have this whole industry making investments for the next 15 to 20 years. This makes flexibility even more important: we need to invest in solutions today that can solve the challenges of a grid two decades from now.”

Asked about how the cost of e-Zinc’s technology compares to industry incumbent technology lithium-ion, he said it was inaccurate and inappropriate to compare the two.

“A system that has the flexibility to stack multiple revenues will provide massive value versus a solution that can only tackle one or two. e-Zinc’s technology focuses on the 12-100 hour range, with Li-ion unable to touch that duration. I think at the end of the day, the product will be cost competitive, because all of the raw materials that we have are actually very, very low cost compared to those in lithium batteries.”

Scaling up first large-scale projects and manufacturing capacity

But he nonetheless agreed that this would only be achieved once the company scaled up. E-Zinc is targeting a US factory with a gigawatt-hour of annual production capacity operational by 2025. The company is currently scouting for the right state and site for the facility.

We then asked Iyer about a project in partnership with Toyota Tsusho to deploy a 24-hour system at Eurus Energy America Corporation’s (EEAC) Bull Creek wind facility in Texas, announced in June last year and slated for Spring 2023. He and a company spokesperson indicated the project may be changed or pushed back slightly.

“We are building a project with Toyota Tsusho, one of our investors but also a go-to-market partner with whom we’ve established a strategic partnership. We are evaluating what the project is going to be, whether it’s going to be in a wind farm or if it’s going to be an industrial setting. So that’s something that’s still open.”

A spokesperson added: “We are in constant discussion with Toyota Tsusho as we decide a site for the project, which may trail a few months as we select it, but largely we are on track with the project timeline.”

Toyota Tsusho is the trading arm of the large Japanese conglomerate while Toyota Ventures, its venture capital investment arm, participated in a US$25 million fundraise e-Zinc raised in April 2022. EEAC’s parent company Eurus Energy is a 60:40 joint venture between Toyota Tsusho and Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Elaborating on why e-Zinc might take longer to firm up the project than initially planned, Iyer said: “We are in discussions to address the right use case that we want to establish. E-Zinc’s technology is suited for a variety of use cases, including both industrial microgrids and renewable time shifting.”

“Either project (wind farm or industrial setting) would be an excellent fit for our battery, but right now we’re weighing which site we want to prioritise with the client.”

Iyer provided an update on another of the company’s announced projects, one with the California Energy Commission. The firm will deploy a system to help the grid during public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), which is when utilities turn off parts of the grid during increased risk of wildfires caused by electrical infrastructure.

“For that project we’ve actually chosen an industrial site where we’re going to show how these energy storage assets can support customer bill management and resilience during a PSPS event. And that’s a big use case in California to be able to not only support grid management, renewable shifting, but you can still have enough juice in the tank to be able to support any sort of resilience event.”

Broader challenges for LDES companies like e-Zinc

“I think the main challenge for all of us in the LDES space is that we’re all in the pilot/early commercial stage. And I think all of us are facing the same challenge, which is how do you mature the product very, very fast, and how do you build a manufacturing scale that makes sense.”

“There’s some positive stuff that we have going for us, which is basically, the tech is a relatively simple tech. It’s well-established processes, well-established technology, well-established methods of how we’re going to plate zinc.”

“The use cases for LDES technology are evolving faster than the market. Which means we need to be proactive, addressing both current use cases and future needs as part of the next evolution of the grid.”

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse

As Energy-Storage.news recently reported, e-Zinc raised a US$7 million debt facility with SVB shortly before its rapid demise. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in and ensured continuity of business for all the bank’s customers.

“It’s unfortunate what’s happened. And I know a lot of the people in the industry who have probably suffered some of the impacts because of that. But I’d say from an e-Zinc perspective, it’s been a minimal-to-no impact for us.”

“There’s been a lot of damage control put in place and this is borne out by the fact that there have not been any downstream effects.”

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Bushveld Minerals’ Vametco mine, where it produces vanadium ore. The company’s downstream energy storage arm responded to an article about flow battery technology’s suitability for a tender in South Africa. Image: Bushveld Minerals.

The downstream arm of vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals and other industry sources have responded to yesterday’s Energy-Storage.news article about flow battery technology’s suitability for a tender in South Africa.

In comments provided to Energy-Storage.news published yesterday, consultancies Clean Horizon and Harmattan Renewables said that the technical requirements of a recent 513MW/2GWh battery storage tender in South Africa would prevent flow batteries from participating. Specifically, they cited the round-trip efficiency (RTE) at the point of interconnection of 70%.

A spokesperson for Bushveld Energy, the downstream energy storage arm of Bushveld Minerals, provided a written response to Energy-Storage.news:

“This is incorrect. There are numerous flow battery technologies and companies – over 20 firms that produce vanadium-based flow batteries alone. Flow batteries range anywhere from 50-80% RTE at the grid connection,” they said.

“CellCube, a (vanadium refox flow battery company or VFRB) company in which we are a shareholder would be able to deliver flow batteries with an RTE over 70% for this tender. While some flow battery technologies and companies may not be able to meet this threshold, others can.”

A energy sector investor responded in a similar vein, and Bushveld Energy also pointed out that the consultancies’ comment that there was “not manufacturing capability in South Africa” for energy storage was untrue:

“For example, Bushveld Energy and the Industrial Development Corporation just finished construction of an 8 million litre vanadium electrolyte plant in East London, South Africa. Vanadium electrolyte alone contributes ~40% to a flow battery’s costs, and we expect a vanadium battery installed in South Africa to easily achieve ~60% in local content with existing domestic supply chains.”

In revised comments provided to Energy-Storage.news in response to various requests from industry participants ad observers, Clean Horizon and Harmattan Renewables said the RTE requirement “…will make it difficult for flow batteries to participate, and lithium-ion battery energy storage is likely to dominate. The fact that the RTE is measured at the grid connection will further affect project development decisions.”

They also acknowledged that the VRFB sector does have local manufacturing capabilities but that the domestic content requirements for the tender will likely need to be met by the balance of system (BOS).

Bushveld Energy said that the 513MW tender from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) actually had some favourable conditions for flow battery technology. Specifically, the high number of cycling the battery systems would be required to do and the length of the contract.

“Requirement for two full, four-hour long charge and discharge cycles per day. This high cycling is perfect for the non-degradation of flow batteries and will increase augmentation costs significantly (not to mention future price risk) for anyone bidding lithium.”

“15-year supply agreement, which, while less than the 20-25 year lifetimes of flow batteries, exceeds the typical 10 year warrantees offered on lithium ion batteries.”

Bushveld Energy said that the company’s new plant in South Africa would be producing enough electrolyte to support a bid. Energy-Storage.news has asked the firm to confirm that CellCube would therefore consider bidding into the tender but the spokesperson declined to comment.

The projects range in size from 77MW/308MWh to 153MW/612MWh in required energy storage capacity, yet CellCube CEO Alexander Schoenfeldt recently told Energy-Storage.news that he estimated, outside of China, the global VRFB supply chain in 2021 had just 30MW of annualised production capacity. Although this is set to grow substantially in the comings years, it means VRFB deployments today rarely go above a few megawatts of power.

“Given that COD on the batteries in this tender is only expected in early 2026, this plant can make enough electrolyte to fulfil at least one and possibly two successful battery tenders (out of the five), should vanadium redox flow batteries win them. There is also more than enough vanadium oxide production in South Africa, as well, to supply feedstock to our plant for these installations,” the spokersperson said.

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Senator Bill Cunningham who sponsored SB1587 is a Democrat representing Illinois’ 18th Legislative District, including parts of Chicago. Image: Senator Bill Cunningham via Twitter.

Legislation could soon be introduced in the US state of Illinois that aims to promote the cost-effective deployment of energy storage on the grid.

Sponsored by Democrat Senator Bill Cunningham, Senate Bill 1587 (SB1587) would make energy storage-friendly amendments to the Illinois Power Agency Act, which is the framework for electricity procurement in the service territories of Illinois grid operators ComEd and Ameren.

SB1587 was filed by the Senator in February, when it had its first reading in the Senate. Now being considered by lawmakers, it “makes legislative declarations and findings regarding the deployment of energy storage systems,” according to the bill’s text.

It calls for the establishment of an energy storage credit system, which would be added to the procurement processes of the Illinois Power Agency (IPA), the independent state body established in 2007 with duties that include developing electricity procurement plans and conducting competitive procurement processes, long-term electricity system planning and the development of electric and co-generation facilities.

Through the bill, the agency would be authorised to conduct competitive solicitations for storage credits and execute contracts to ensure the Illinois electric system gets sufficient energy storage resources. It would also be tasked with developing an electricity storage procurement plan within 90 days of the bill’s amendments becoming effective.

Developers of projects and resources would bid a strike price into those procurements. SB1587 also authorises the IPA to “develop and implement a firm energy resource procurement plan,” while the agency should also conduct an analysis beginning no later than 31 December 2026 whether contracted energy storage resource capacity and duration is sufficient to meet renewable energy standards and carbon emissions limits in the state. This analysis would be conducted every two years thereafter.  

Cunningham was involved in creating the key Illinois legislation SB2408, which commits the state to 50% renewable energy by 2040 and 100% by 2050, including a schedule for the phase out of coal, oil and gas power plants. In the process, the bill, signed into law in 2021, more than doubled Illinois’ renewable energy budget, created a workforce training programme and allowed for two transmission lines to be built.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), as of July 2022 Illinois had the country’s fifth largest energy consumption among states. Just over half of that comes from nuclear, the highest proportion of any US state, with about 30% coal – Illinois has the second-largest recoverable coal reserves and accounts for about 6% of US coal production – under 10% natural gas and just slightly more than that in renewable energy generation.

A key part of the climate and renewables bill, officially the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, is a coal-to-clean energy transition strategy, which seeks to give businesses and communities with a stake in the coal economy a smoother exit plan from the fossil fuel.

Cunningham appears to remain committed to furthering the adoption of renewable energy in the state, with his recent championing of energy storage alongside another bill the Senator has sponsored to relax zoning regulations that he claimed have been restrictive of developments.

The move to amend Illinois’ energy market framework to incorporate solicitations for energy storage procurements could echo the recent steps proposed by public bodies in New York, another state which looks likely to introduce tenders for energy storage resources, with their introduction expected in about a year’s time.

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Vanadium ore. Image: Australian Vanadium.

Elcora, a Canadian startup aiming to provide materials for the global battery value chain, is developing a vanadium pentoxide plant in Morocco to complement raw materials extraction in the country.

Meanwhile, Indian vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) manufacturer Delectrik has signed a vanadium supply agreement with Technology Metals Australia.

Nova Scotia-headquartered Elcora is targeting the supply of battery materials including graphene, graphite-based anode powder for lithium-ion batteries and vanadium.

It has a graphite mine in Sri Lanka, as well as 17 licenses to look for vanadinite, a mineral which contains lead, vanadium, cobalt, copper, tantalum and other metals, in Morocco. Elcora’s vanadinite research licenses came from the acquisition of Moroccan materials company Ermazon in late 2021.

Founded in 2011, Elcora is pursuing a strategy of vertical integration, and has appointed materials and process-development lab and engineering company Lab 4 to kick off test work and process design for a facility producing vanadium pentoxide for the VRFB industry.

Lab 4 will work in three stages: first confirming vanadinite materials processing can do done from the resources available, then a preliminary economic analysis based on the hydrometallurgical processing of vanadium pentoxide and vanadium from vanadinite that is pure enough to be battery-grade.

Lab 4 will then design and construct a pilot production plant at an Elcora facility in Bedford, Nova Scotia. This will confirm the design and allow for engineers to get data on how to scale up production, as well as producing samples for clients.    

Technology Metals Australia is another startup looking to produce vanadium pentoxide and then electrolyte from its own extraction facility.

The company is developing its Murchison Technology Metals Project in Western Australia, comprising two vanadium projects, Gabanintha and Yarrabubba. Technology Metals Australia claims Gabaninthat holds one of the world’s highest-grade vanadium deposits, while Yarrabubba has higher concentration grades of vanadium and could also yield ilmenite as a by-product.

Earlier this week, the company said it has entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Delectrik Systems, a vanadium electrolyte producer and flow battery manufacturer based in Gurgaon, India.

Technology Metals Australia (TMA) would supply Delectrik with raw vanadium, while a TMA subsidiary vLYTE would supply vanadium electrolyte. Delectrik makes VRFBs from 10kWh up to MWh-scale, with founder Vishal Mittal recently claiming it has to date supplied 100 devices.

As well as India, Delectrik is targeting sales of VRFBs in US, Australian, European and Middle Eastern markets, recently signing a distribution deal with Saudi Arabian company Tdafoq Energy for countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Tdafoq has also signed a manufacturing license with flow battery company to establish its own VRFB factory.

Specific volumes for supply will be signed between TMA and Delectrik in a future phase of their agreement, but TMA noted that rolling out and scaling up the VRFBs will require “substantial volumes” of vanadium electrolyte.

Scale-up will require ‘significant volumes’ of vanadium

The two developments speak to the expected takeoff of vanadium flow batteries for renewable energy integration and grid storage applications that is being forecast by the likes of Guidehouse Insights.

While VRFBs have several perceived technical advantages over lithium-ion, particularly for long-duration energy storage (LDES) applications, a long lifetime without degradation of batteries, low cost of ownership (Opex) and lessened fire safety risk, barriers to adoption have included a higher upfront cost (Capex) versus lithium battery storage systems.

Perhaps as important a barrier is that requirement for substantial volumes of vanadium and electrolyte. Most vanadium is produced as a by-product of steel manufacturing, the industry where it is also most in demand presently. Indeed, a TMA analysis showed that as of today, only about 2% of the world’s vanadium goes to the energy storage industry.

While relatively abundant as a raw material, there are presently only three primary vanadium producers in the world. These include Bushveld Minerals, which has a vanadium mine in South Africa and is building its own electrolyte production plant in the country. However, in Australia alone, others besides TMA are looking to execute a similar strategy, such as Australian Vanadium (AVL), developing mines as well as electrolyte production capacity.

Other vanadium deposits are being explored, while a project in Canada to recover vanadium from fly ash produced from the operation of coke-fired boilers is underway by petroleum company Suncor. Suncor’s facility would be Canada’s first commercial vanadium recovery plant and recently received CA$7 million (US$5.2 million) from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), administered by the province’s government.  

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