Bushveld CEO Fortune Mojapelo
Photo by: Duane Daws
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals’ newly established 84%-owned subsidiary Bushveld Energy and US-based UniEnergy Technologies (UET) have teamed up to develop market opportunities for vanadium-redox flow batteries (VRFB).
A new memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked between the duo outlines a framework of cooperation in leveraging synergies and develops a strategy to identify and develop immediate VRFB installation opportunities in Africa and create a vanadium value-chain in South Africa.
“The MoU with UET is a significant step in Bushveld Energy's development, providing a platform for collaboration with a credible technology partner that not only has a strong record in the technology development of VRFBs but is also a commercial manufacturer of quality VRFB systems,” said Bushveld Minerals CEO Fortune Mojapelo in an update to the market on Monday.
The focus of the MoU would be on large commercial customers and industrial and utility applications, where energy storage reduced energy costs or added additional value for the energy user.
“Africa's insufficient power infrastructure and rapidly growing electricity demand create a unique environment for immediate, mass-scale adoption of energy storage, especially in tandem with rising renewable-energy generation adoption,” he explained.
Further, the MoU would allow for the development of a strategy to target vanadium electrolyte manufacturing, VRFB manufacturing and local component sourcing in South Africa in the medium term.
“Both companies see South Africa as having favourable competitive advantages to become an additional base for VRFB manufacturing to meet the forecast growth in energy storage adoption,” the companies commented.
The aspiration was to assemble and eventually manufacture VRFB systems in South Africa, which would further reduce the costs of the VRFB systems and allow for the local beneficiation of locally mined and produced vanadium.
“It is just the first step in Bushveld Energy's efforts to promote the role of vanadium in the growing energy storage market through smart partnerships and innovative business models. Partnerships are key to our business model,” Mojapelo noted.
Bushveld and UET started evaluating several potential opportunities for VRFB installations and additional collaboration partners.