Vanadium flow battery player VRB gets US$24m investment from Thai renewables company BCPG - Energy Storage News | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Investment

Vanadium flow battery player VRB gets US$24m investment from Thai renewables company BCPG – Energy Storage News

Published

 on


Vanadium flow battery cell stacks at VRB Energy’s large-scale demonstrator project in Hubei Province, China. Image: VRB Energy.

Thailand-headquartered renewable energy group BCPG will invest US$24 million into vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) manufacturer VRB Energy, aimed at accelerating VRB’s utility-scale VRFB business.

BCPG is active in developing and operating assets across the solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric technologies in Asia, with projects in Thailand, Japan, Laos, the Philippines and Indonesia. Energy-Storage.news reported in May 2020 that a BCPG subsidiary had signed up for a loan deal with the Asian Development Bank for Thailand’s first wind-plus-storage project, in a pilot scheme that the ADB said could be replicated and scaled up elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Investment target VRB Energy meanwhile is among the VRFB technology providers looking to commercialise its offerings with a view to capturing opportunities for large-scale, long-duration facilities with several hours’ of storage. VRFBs could be a longer-lasting alternative to cheaper lithium-ion batteries, but more commonly are described as a complementary energy storage technology for lithium, able to do energy applications cost-effectively, while lithium-ion will likely remain popular for power applications.

Canada-headquartered VRB is owned by minerals exploration company Ivanhoe Electric (which was formerly known as High Powered Exploration), which in turn is owned by electric industry innovation group I-Pulse. The groups are led by Robert Friedland, a noted figure in the junior mining industry, who is also now VRB’s chairman. To date, the company has deployed around 40MWh of VRFBs world-wide.

As part of a flagship clean energy and grid modernisation strategy scheme of the Chinese government, several large-scale VRFB projects are being built across the country in the coming years. VRB has been awarded a 100MW / 500MWh project in Hubei Province through the scheme and commissioned a 3MW / 12MWh demonstrator system a couple of years ago.

In March this year Energy-Storage.news reported that in addition to a framework agreement for the 500MWh project, the company has also signed documents with local government in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, to build a 1,000MW per annum VRFB factory in the region.

Investment from BCPG will support expansion of VRB Energy’s manufacturing capacity, the rollout of its latest Gen3 flow battery energy storage system (ESS) product, as well as assisting with the vertical integration of vanadium processing into its supply chains. VRB CEO Dr Mianyuan Huang said that BCPG could also now work with VRB to add storage to its existing and planned projects, which Huang said would “optimise system performance and enhance revenues” from renewables assets. The pair could also consider localised manufacturing of ESS in Thailand, Huang said.

“We have been determined to strengthen our position as a leader in the green energy sector through investment in smart energy solutions, and VRB Energy’s long-duration batteries are a perfect fit to meet increasing demand for renewable energy, grid stability, and microgrid development,” BCPG CEO Bundit Sapianchai said.

BCPG said the market for energy storage is rapidly expanding in Thailand, and the investment should help VRB Energy and BCPG meet that demand and across the Southeast Asia region as it grows, as well as demand for VRB’s products in China which already exists. 

Adblock test (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Economy

S&P/TSX composite little changed in late-morning trading, U.S. stock markets down

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.

The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version