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General Market Commentary
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General Energy
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General Market Commentary
Rocketing vanadium price primed for 'Elon Musk moment'
Spiking cobalt and lithium demand from booming sales of electric vehicles grabs all the headlines, partly thanks to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s propensity to make news, but another battery metal has actually experienced more action this year.
Vanadium is primarily used to strengthen steel (today it makes up more than 90% of the market) and prices for ferro-vanadium hit decade highs this month.
Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) which makes its way into so-called vanadium redox flow batteries used in energy storage systems breached $20 a pound for the first time since 2005 this month. That’s a four-fold increase from the start of 2017.
Simon Moores of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a battery materials research and price discovery provider based out of London, says the recent success of lithium ion batteries being deployed in increasing larger systems that are exceeding 1GWh has brought to light the huge potential of the market for all types of battery technologies.
Vanadium flow batteries have lifespans of over 20 years without capacity loss, are non-flammable and can operate at any temperature. Another advantage over lithium ion is that this type of battery can be charged and discharged simultaneously making it highly suitable for large-scale storage from renewable sources such as solar and wind when connected to an electricity grid. Main downside is low energy density which means comparatively large installations needed.
“If a vanadium battery producer steps forward with bold plans to produce vanadium flow at mass scale, giving the industry its Elon Musk or lithium ion moment, the potential for the technology to be the second most deployed ESS battery in the world is there,” says Moores.