Western Australia’s Labor eyes 500MWh vanadium BESS pledge ahead of state election

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Western Australia’s Premier Roger Cook of the Labor Party has pledged to invest AU$150 million (US$92.4 million) into a 500MWh 10-hour duration vanadium battery energy storage system (BESS) should it be re-elected in the upcoming state election.

The vanadium battery is being proposed in Kalgoorlie, a mining town in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, 595km northeast of Perth. The long-duration energy storage (LDES) asset would reinforce the local energy system.

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The BESS would also replace the existing West Kalgoorlie Power Station by 2026. This 57MW gas turbine station provides emergency backup electricity and is maintained by the state-owned energy company Synergy.

The vanadium battery is expected to be operational in 2029 and is located near the existing transmission infrastructure. However, the final location has yet to be determined.

Premier Roger Cook noted the power station’s closing as one of the key drivers for the vanadium project.

“We have work well underway to replace West Kalgoorlie Power Station by 2026, secured additional gas back up from the mining industry last year, and invested millions in improvements to the transmission network,” Cook said.

“This project will provide further back up, with ten hours of supply able to be dispersed when it is needed. This will really help if weather events or other disruptions hit the region.”

Western Australia’s vanadium opportunity

Western Australia’s extensive mining capabilities allow vanadium expansion in the state. The government notes that one of the world’s largest vanadium deposits is being developed south of Meekatharra, with a local vanadium supply expected by 2027.

This has sparked interest in the technology in Western Australia. For instance, a 78kW/220kWh long-duration vanadium flow battery pilot is being explored in the town of Kununurra. The system is being supplied by VSUN Energy, a subsidiary of Australian Vanadium, with state energy provider Horizon Power also supporting the pilot.

The state has also increased the manufacturing of vanadium batteries. In December 2023, Australian Vanadium completed a factory in Perth dedicated to producing electrolytes for vanadium redox flow batteries. The plant had been supported with a grant from the Australian federal government under its Modern Manufacturing Initiative.

The company is developing primary vanadium production and processing capabilities and constructing a processing hub to produce 13,000 tonnes of vanadium pentoxide flake yearly.

With the 50MW/500MWh vanadium battery promised in Labor’s election pledge being touted as “one of the largest in Australia”, Cook hopes this will serve as a catalyst to expand the technology’s presence in the state.

“I want this project to be a catalyst to drive a new vanadium mining, processing and export industry for Western Australia – to make more things here, diversify the economy and create the jobs of the future,” Cook said.

US and the EU among the target markets for Western Australian vanadium

Western Australia is not the only state exploring the potential benefits of vanadium and the economic opportunity it could create. Queensland, with its goal of becoming a world leader in renewable energy, has an abundance of vanadium that could be harnessed to achieve this end.

Queensland has reserves of vanadium that could be leveraged, giving the state a competitive edge over rival domestic and international markets. This was complemented by the state’s official battery strategy, which was released as part of its major Energy and Jobs Plan.

It is worth noting that, currently, more than 85% of the world’s vanadium supply comes from Russia, China, South Africa, and Brazil. As Russia and China become increasingly entangled with geopolitical issues, Australia could gain the opportunity to scale its vanadium capabilities and capture a large share of the market.

Premier Cook’s statement specifically mentioned the US, Europe, South Korea, and Japan as potential markets for Western Australian vanadium.

On the subject of international vanadium markets, technology provider Rongke Power said in December 2024 that it had completed a 175MW/700MWh vanadium redox flow battery project in China, the largest of its type in the world.

Election season draws closer in Australia

2025 is gearing up to be a crucial year for Australia’s energy transition prospects, with Western Australia and the Northern Territory holding state elections, while a Federal election is scheduled for May 2025.

Western Australia’s election could be significant as some of the largest renewable energy proposals are set to be located within the state. The government’s ambition, whether it be a newcomer or the currently elected Labor, is being called on to match the industry, which has questioned the government’s support throughout 2024.

For example, Australian mineral exploration company Province Resources shelved its multi-gigawatt solar and wind-powered green hydrogen project in the state due to a lack of government support, as reported by our sister site PV Tech.

Revealed in 2021, the project, which was set to be developed in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia and feature 1GW of solar PV and wind energy, was hoping to produce around 60,000 tonnes of green hydrogen or up to 300,000 tonnes of green ammonia.

The company said it had continuously communicated with all relevant departments and ministers and expected the Western Australian government to provide a “timely and appropriate land tenure for the project”.

However, Province said that the government “failed to offer tenure for the project on terms which would be acceptable to Province and potential project partners, or in the best interests of the company’s shareholders”.

Perhaps more understandably significant to Australia’s decarbonisation journey is the Federal election, which is likely to see the current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party lock horns with LNP’s Peter Dutton.

Since Albanese took office in 2022, the country has seen vast support for renewable energy developments, especially solar PV, through various mechanisms that have been introduced, such as the often-oversubscribed Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS). The results of the first CIS tender saw 3.5GWh of co-located energy storage successful.

In contrast to Albanese’s staunch support for renewable energy developments, Dutton aims to reduce the Australian public’s energy bills by focusing more on oil and gas, coal-fired power, and nuclear reactors. In the process, he would controversially lift a ban on nuclear power that has been in place since 1983 via the Nuclear Activities (Prohibitions) Act.

With many across the energy industry disputing Dutton’s claims that this will reduce household energy bills, the topic is likely to become a focal point for the upcoming election.

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