Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX:AVL, OTCQB:ATVVF) is playing a key part in the piloting by the Western Australia Government of a long-duration vanadium flow battery (VFB) in Kununurra in the state’s northwest.
The battery, supplied by Invinity Energy Systems, contains vanadium electrolyte manufactured by AVL subsidiary VSUN Energy.
It will allow pilot collaboration partner Horizon Power to assess whether VFB technology can be installed in microgrids and off-grid power systems.
Horizon will integrate this energy storage into its network and will undertake system support testing along with VSUN over the next 12 months.
Challenging conditions
The Kununurra battery relies on VSUN’s vanadium-flow technology, has a 78KW capacity, 220kWh of storage and its energy storage is temperature-resilient and well-suited to the challenging Kimberley conditions.
In areas like the Kimberley, energy storage must be temperature-resilient and capable of delivering energy over a long period of time.
Western Australia’s Minister for Energy Reece Whitby MLA took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the battery site and published a Ministerial Release to acknowledge the commencement of the project.
The Minister said: “This pilot won’t just mean there is more clean, reliable and affordable power for regional WA – it means Horizon Power can better understand how batteries can support microgrids and other off-grid power systems throughout the State.”