Vanadium Batteries... Expensive, Heavy and Brilliant

I bet you haven’t heard of Vanadium batteries. And there’s a good reason for it. For one thing, Vanadium is so much more expensive than lithium to extract and refine — making these batteries cost about 2x what lithium-ion does per kWh.

To make matters worse, Vanadium batteries have a substantially decreased energy density, which means that to get the same power, you need a unit twice as heavy. Not exactly what you want to hear if you’re looking for a battery to power your smart phone or your brand new high-performance EV. 

But there is one catch that sweeps all of these shortcomings away. 

Vanadium flow batteries, as they’re called, have a service life expectancy of between 25,000 and 30,000 charge cycles before there is a noticeable degradation of charge speed and retention efficiency.

That’s a quarter century or more of peak-level performance, and even at the end of the lifecycle, Vanadium batteries present a near zero risk of fire.

Vanadium Batteries… A Special Solution For A Unique Problem

Now step back and think about it… What is the one application where size and mass makes no difference, but longevity does?

It can’t be anything related to consumer tech or consumer transportation. So what is it?

The answer: Commercial and industrial grade distributed energy storage.

For every solar farm and for every wind turbine, a battery needs to be close by to store the power that’s not used immediately. 

For projects like that, which are typically constructed with a 25-30 year timetable in mind, a battery designed to provide reliable storage for the life of the power source is ideal.

So while lithium batteries will have to be replaced three times — and present a very real fire risk the entire time they’re in service — the very same vanadium units installed during construction will still be in operation at project termination.

And on top of the commercial installations, backup batteries are becoming the norm in North American hospitals, government buildings, and residential homes. 

So while you may have not heard of it, its importance to the future is unquestionable.

Vanadium: Not Sexy, But Also Won’t Burst Into Flames

It’s one of the three biggest segments of the rechargeable battery market, and it’s expanding. It’s also often overshadowed by the glitzier and sexier battery-dependant technology. 

Vanadium, the metal few know anything about and whose current primary purpose is steel refinement, now has the potential to end lithium dominance in this segment forever.

But it hasn’t happened yet. 

Which means any company engaged in the business of building these rare batteries, is underbought. 

My premium subscribers recently learned all about a young and small UK-based firm that’s a world leader in Vanadium flow battery design.

The company is valued at just over $50M right now, but their products are already rolling off the assembly lines into a market that’s projected to almost triple in size by the end of the decade.

As an investor with major interests in the future of lithium, I see vanadium flow as a technology that will make renewable energy generation far more sustainable — which in turn makes possible the dream of decarbonization. 

Vanadium Is Not An Enemy Of Lithium

It also removes one of the biggest criticisms of lithium usage in green energy projects, as its effects on the environment largely cancel out any good it may do on the carbon-reduction front. 

Vanadium also don’t conflict with the lithium thesis at all, which makes this yet another way to play the biggest technological shift in the history of industry and commerce — the shift from oil to electrons. 

Want to see what my paid subscribers have seen?

Check out this report, published just days ago, that lays it all out. 

Just don’t take too long because despite its low profile, this company is making major moves with major clients. 

Recently, the US Department of Energy committed to funding projects using 85 MWhs of this company’s production. 

The units supplying this power are the size of shipping containers, so very few things about this company, or its plans, is small. 

Soon enough, this story will get out and the retail investment community will do what it always does — pile in. 

Get all the information you need, right here.

Fortune favors the bold,

Alex Koyfman

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His flagship service, Microcap Insider, provides market-beating insights into some of the fastest moving, highest profit-potential companies available for public trading on the U.S. and Canadian exchanges. With more than 5 years of track record to back it up, Microcap Insider is the choice for the growth-minded investor. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to Energy and Capital. To learn more about Alex, click here.