AI gen vanadium flow battery concept
Adobe Stock
The Market Online - At The Bell

Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights

Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) has kicked off Project Lumina, seeking to build a modular 100MW Vanadium Flow Battery (VFB) for use in Australia.

Built by 100% owned subsidiary VSUN Energy Pty Ltd, the company is seeking to shore up faith for VFB builds in the ‘big battery’ – or Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) market.

‘Big Batteries’ are, for that acronym, sometimes called BESSies.

According to AVL, VSUN has run the numbers and states a 4-hour 100MW VFB battery with a storage cost of A$274 per megawatt hour would be economically competitive with lithium-based BESSies.

Built to paper design, VFB systems are widely perceived as posing less of a fire risk than lithium-ion BESSies like Tesla’s sometimes fire prone megapack batteries.

Should Project Lumina do what it’s trying to do on paper – design a largely Australian made vanadium-based BESS – it expects to shore up confidence among potential buyers, and, find a use for its Australian hard rock vanadium assets.

Already producing small amounts of electrolyte, the company is opting for a domestic onshore ‘pit to battery’ strategy ex-China.

Of course, the question of funding remains.

“AVL is considering a range of funding options for Project Lumina at either parent company or asset level within the AVL group, which is expected to include debt supported by strategic equity or cornerstone equity funding, including from Australian Government agencies,” the company wrote on Wednesday.

But AVL chief Graham Arvidson thinks that those funding discussions likely come at a good time.

“The need for long duration energy storage in Australia is rapidly growing and the work the team is undertaking with Project Lumina is a key enabler to create a platform for us to deliver competitive long duration battery energy storage solutions,” Arvidson said.

“The scale of the projects VSUN Energy is pursuing aims to provide AVL with the ability to utilise our own manufactured vanadium electrolyte, ultimately unlocking the development pathway and full value of the Australian Vanadium Project.”

AVL last traded at

Join the discussion: See what HotCopper users are saying about Australian Vanadium and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

AVL by the numbers
More From The Market Online
The Market Online Video

ASX Market Close: Bourse finishes week on a high as Wisetech pummeled | November 22, 2024

The ASX200 closed up 0.85% at 8,393 points. Economists increasingly expect interest rates in Australia won’t…
The Market Online Video

HotCopper Highlights: Your most watched stocks for Week 47, 2024

In this segment we’ll look at the top stocks HotCopper users have been watching, and discussing,…
Nuclear explosion mushroom cloud concept

Week 47 Wrap: HotCopper users’ most watched; Brent lifts on Putin’s scary letter; RFK dents CSL

Welcome to the end of another week. Let's start with what HotCopper users have been watching…
Dale Gillham's photo, and wording 'Words from Wealth Within's Chief Analyst Dale Gillham.

Dale Gillham’s weekly wrap: Sigma-Chemist Warehouse merger creates pharma powerhouse

The $8.8 billion dollar merger between Sigma Healthcare and Chemist Warehouse is poised to reshape the Australian pharmacy landscape, consolidating power in th…