Bushveld Minerals Ltd’s (LON:BMN) partnership with South African electricity utility Eskom has received its first vanadium battery.
US firm UniEnergy Technologies built the unit, which will run on a mixed-acid vanadium electrolyte.
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Subsidiary Bushveld Energy is now integrating the vanadium redox battery (VFRB) at Eskom’s test facility at Rosherville in South Africa.
First performance data is expected this quarter.
Bushveld has also awarded the contract for the environmental assessment of a new vanadium electrolyte production facility at East London in South Africa
It will now be a full EIA study to cover both the initial 200MWh capacity for the plant and any expansion of future production.
“This strategy allows us to keep initial risk lower with an ability to capitalise should growth in energy storage materialise even faster than expected,” said Fortune Mojapelo, Bushveld’s chief executive.
The progress has demonstrated that utility-scale batteries can be delivered in only months, he added.
Bushveld Minerals owns 84% of Bushveld Energy.