Matt Badiali – Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, Could Vanadium Be The Next Commodity Bull Market?
Matt Badiali, Editor of the New Energy Investor, Published under Mangrove Investor joins me to look at the Vanadium market and the potential of Vanadium redox flow batteries driving a bull market.
We discuss the transformative potential of Vanadium redox flow batteries to be used for grid-scale energy storage. These batteries, compared to lithium-ion batteries, have longer lifespans and are considered safer. China’s significant demand for vanadium flow batteries and their projected annual growth rate of 56.7% through 2030 are examined.
Despite the current low demand from steel,we address investment opportunities and potential market shifts, with Canadian company Largo Resources highlighted as a key player. Matt also touches upon the future exploration and production possibilities in regions like Eastern Ontario and Quebec.
Click here to visit the Mangrove Investor website to follow along with what Matt is writing.
As for the comments about vanadium redox flow batteries being “new” or cutting edge ideas… not really…. we’ve been talking about them here on the KER blog and over at Ceo.ca for many years now.
These grid-scale batteries have been proposed for 10 years+, so this is not a new “breaking idea” (despite Vanadium price.com being under construction — ha!) People were promoting them in the first big lithium boom from 2010-2012 as the disruptive battery tech that would displace lithium batteries in the realm of grid-scale energy storage.
We’ve talked about this so many times on this blog before…. Yes, they could be good for energy storage, and they’ve been touted as the answer for storing backup power for wind and solar for a long time (which is why there was even such a surge back in 2017 & 2018). Still waiting on all of it to play out though…
So far after a decade of talking about it there’s just not been much implementation or adoption in the market, and that’s the problem.
So VFB’s use vanadium electrolyte for BOTH cathode and anode. The electrolyte is non-degrading and is effective for decades. But here’s the thing, this represents upwards of 50% of the entire battery cost. Now if you are talking grid-scale, this is a significant factor.
Enter Largo Physical Vanadium VAND.V
This is a vehicle set up specifically to facilitate a cost effective means to build VFB’s at scale.
Now, did not show up here just to bash Matt(seems like a decent sort) but how can one talk about VFB’s AND Largo without even a mention of this.
VFB’s use vanadium electrolyte as both cathode AND anode. This electrolyte is effective for decades without degradation.
Unfortunately, it also accounts for upwards of 50% of the battery’s cost.
Largo Physical Vanadium VAND.V is a vehicle specifically setup to facilitate VFB grid-scale projects.
How can Matt talk about VFB’s AND Largo without mentioning this and expect to be taken seriously.
Apologies for the double post, a bit of a delay/timing misunderstanding. My bad.
Largo is an OK company as a primary vanadium producer, but then it has all the downside risk that Matt covered when vanadium prices crater.
>> If investors want a better way to get exposure to Vanadium, then Energy Fuels (UUUU) (EFR) represents a far better opportunity to diversify between multiple metals — Vanadium, Uranium, and Rare Earths.
Energy Fuels has been and still is actually a producer of vanadium. That is far better exposure than just chasing some of the tiny Canadian drillplays with a dream and a marketing pitch about their vanadium prospectivity, (that will most likely never get into production).
UUUU can scale up to produce more Vanadium along with their Uranium and Rare Earths, befitting from any uptrends in use and pricing, but without putting all their eggs in just one basket like Largo. They can also scale back vanadium production when prices don’t make sense and make hay instead with uranium and rare earths processing during those periods (like the environment at present).
I know Matt follows the uranium sector and even Energy Fuels specifically, so I’m surprised he didn’t mention that option…. which seems like a way better way for investors to get exposure to this market.