Following the recent announcement of a major capacity expansion, US Vanadium, LLC (Hot Springs, Ark.) has now announced that it purchased a materials-processing facility in Benton, Arkansas that will help the Company continue to expand its production of high-purity vanadium and related products.
The facility, formerly owned by Saint-Gobain (Courbevoie, France) and situated 30 miles from USV’s flagship production facility in Hot Springs, Ark., will enable the Company to more efficiently grind and roast vanadium feedstock in preparation for chemical processing into a wide variety of vanadium-based products, including high-purity vanadium pentoxide and ultra-high-purity electrolyte for use in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.
USV produces vanadium-based products by recovering contained vanadium from a variety of post-industrial waste streams, which underscores USV’s commitment to maximizing sustainable practices in its operations. USV’s recycling of waste streams also allows for the production of high-purity vanadium products with a very small carbon footprint as compared to primary vanadium mining operations.
“This strategic acquisition gives US Vanadium greater flexibility and processing capacity for the various sources of vanadium feedstock that we utilize,” said USV CEO Mark A. Smith. “Such vertical integration allows us to ramp up our production of high-purity vanadium more efficiently and at a lower cost. We are pleased to welcome to US Vanadium the outstanding team at the Benton facility, and we look forward to expanding our production across both of our Arkansas facilities.”
U.S. Vanadium is a leading producer of high-purity vanadium for multiple markets and applications. It also produces ultra-high-purity vanadium-based electrolyte for Vanadium Flow Batteries (VRBs), a rapidly growing commercial technology that promises to enable intermittent renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind to provide power on a round-the-clock basis.
VRFB batteries are rechargeable batteries that take advantage of the fact that vanadium ions in different oxidation states can efficiently store chemical potential energy. VRFBs allow for an almost unlimited energy capacity, can be discharged to very high percentages without damage, have very long cycle lives (at least 15,000-20,000 charge/discharge cycles), and can remain unused for long periods without permanent effects to the system.
Because of their nearly unlimited energy storage capacity, high efficiency, zero emissions, very long cycle lives, and relatively low cost of available electricity on a lifecycle basis, VRFB energy storage systems are enabling consumers to utilize renewable energy systems for 100% of their actual power needs without having to rely on renewable energy credits and other accounting offsets.