Australian Vanadium hopes Kalgoorlie-Boulder battery will be example propelling tech take-up across nation

The company developing the technology for Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s $150 million vanadium-flow battery wants it to be the shining example that propels the power source’s take-up across Australia. Australian Vanadium is working to develop its project near Meekatharra into an operating mine with a 25-year life that can supply the material for the State Government’s Goldfields power proposal. The rationales driving the State Government include providing greater security for Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s power supply, which has had significant disruptions in recent years, and also developing a WA-based industry that can expand and provide jobs into the future. Australian Vanadium has a broader strategy to increase the use of the technology across the nation. Premier Roger Cook, when announcing the Kalgoorlie-Boulder plan in January, declared 2029 was the target date to have the 50MW, 500MW hours battery up-and-running. However, Australian Vanadium still a few hurdles to clear before its mine is operational — and the current global price for the product is not where the company would like it to be. Australian Vanadium chief executive Graham Arvidson told the Kalgoorlie Miner the company was currently working its way through the approvals process for the mine — and he did not want to declare a firm date for first production. “So we are nearing completion of what we call the optimised feasibility study,” he said. “The next steps for us in terms of critical path are the approvals. “We secured a major EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) approval in January . . . we have several other primary approvals that are coming to that pointy end. “We have every reason to believe we could get our key approvals and get to that shovel-ready status in something like the next 12 months.” However, he said the global vanadium price was a sticking point at the moment. “The vanadium price right now does not incentivise us to get into production, so we have the problem that a lot of commodity producers have,” he said. “However, what I would highlight, and this shouldn’t be a surprise to any West Australians, (is that) commodities change rapidly.” Mr Arvidson said vanadium had traditionally been used for steel alloying, and China, the world’s biggest user, was in an economic downturn. “You put one kilogram of vanadium in a ton of steel, and it literally doubles the yield strength,” he said. “But what’s also happened in the (past three years) is production of rebar, which is the main use case for vanadium in China, has gone down 40 per cent, so that’s still what’s dominating the price. “So if people look at vanadium, they’re going to go, well, the price is low right now — yes, it is, but there’s a really extreme exponential growth in battery use.” He said three years ago only one per cent of the world’s vanadium went into batteries. “Three years later, fast forward right now in China, 17 per cent has this year gone into their batteries,” he said. “What was traditionally a steel alloying metal, the supply demand dynamics are going to flip. “You’ll have credible forecasters out there right now . . . they’ll tell you that China becomes a net importer in the next in this calendar year. “So, and historic, that hasn’t happened since 2018 (and) when that happens, China starts importing. “Obviously, that just tells you the markets tight, and then we should see price response.” The Kalgoorlie-Boulder battery would be the largest in the world outside China, and Mr Arvidson said the proposal was central to the company’s ambition to boost the use of vanadium-flow batteries across Australia. “The way I think about Kalgoorlie . . . we’re a supply chain solution,” he said. “So, actually, our goal is not just the mine. “We have what we think is a highly compelling strategy on a cost basis to deliver local electrolyte in Kalgoorlie. “It makes sense structurally . . . we’re the only established electrolyte producer in WA, then, of course, we have our Project Lumina, which is, in our view . . . highly competitive at the eight-hour mark, but definitely at 10 hours. “So like it’s competitive, ready-to-deploy technology. “We’ve done it with local engineering and construction partners. “So that’s why it’s important to our business.” Mr Arvidson said the technology had been rolled out in China “at an eye-watering scale”. “It’s fully proven for over a decade,” he said. “There’s big-grid connected batteries doing black start arbitrage frequency services, just no problem. “So it does take that story, like in South Australia not that long ago, there’s the Hornsdale battery. “There was no big-grid connected lithium batteries . . . but not that long ago, they built that battery, and it became the leading battery in the world for people to go, ‘oh, wow, batteries can play a big role in the grid’.” Mr Arvidson said Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s battery could sell the same story for vanadium-flow batteries. “It’s a great solution for this application,” he said. “It’s cost-effective, creates jobs across the whole supply chain (and) it creates the use case outside of China, where people wake up and pay attention.” Mr Arvidson said it actually should not take a project such as the Kalgoorlie-Boulder battery to highlight the technology’s potential in Australia. “I could fly with you to China right now and . . . land in Dalian and right in the middle of their city because there’s no flammability issues, there’s a 400MWh battery just right in the middle of the office buildings,” he said. “But I think having that tangible, real-world thing right here, just operating, is what kicks it all off (in Australia). “So the nice thing for me, like this should be an Australian story, but what Western Australia has always been good at regardless . . . is mining processing. “The ideal solution for our value chain and our business is to offer the full solution in Australia, but vanadium oxides can be competitive here because we have good geology. “The way we create the most value for our business and for society is unlocking the full value chain. “And we have very fortunately been able to develop our mining process to the point where we’re nearing that ready-to-go state, which is very exciting. “We’ve established electrolyte production commercially, and we have a great strategy to produce very low-cost electrolyte here in Kalgoorlie should we win the project. “And then we’ve come up with what we think puts us 18 months ahead of everyone else, and we’ve done the detailed design work on with local contractors and local engineering (on) how do you deploy these things smartly in Australia “One of the things we’ve come across is . . . in terms of pushing that adoption to the utility scale, they’re just like, ‘I get it, it’s low risk, but it’s not off the shelf yet’. “So what we’ve done, starting two years ago, is like, well, what does it take to make it off the shelf? “We’ve come with all the partners, brought them together and said, ‘Let’s just get this thing ready to go off the shelf’.”