First bids called for Australia’s biggest 10-hour vanadium flow battery to support Australia’s …
The Western Australian government has formally opened the first stages of a tender to deliver a 50-megawatt (MW)/500-megawatt-hour (MWh) vanadium battery in the gold mining capital of Kalgoorlie, the largest of its type in Australia, and possibly the world.
The W.A. Labor government says the first part of a two-stage expressions of interest (EoI) will run through to 30 January 2026 and is designed to identify and understand existing capabilities in the Western Australian market.
The government is keen to back a vanadium BESS, and made an election promise of $150 million to boost the reliability of the local grid and to support the country’s vanadium industry. It hopes to have the battery up and running before the end of the decade.
According to the EoI for the Kalgoorlie Vanadium Battery Energy Storage System, the VBESS would “enhance the Eastern Goldfields’ reliability of electricity supply and support the adoption of long duration energy storage technologies in WA.”
The 50 MW/500 MWh project is intended to be locally made to use locally sourced and processed vanadium.
Vanadium flow batteries, which differ from the lithium-ion batteries that currently dominate the market, are fire resistant, making them particularly efficient in Western Australia’s hot climate, are recyclable, scalable, and provide longer storage duration.
The Kalgoorlie grid has suffered through blackouts and failed generators during the past two years, and its poor reliability is cited as a key driver for building a VBESS.
The government hopes such a project would also help to kickstart local battery manufacturing and restart a potential vanadium mining industry, after a fire destroyed part of a vanadium plant at Windimurra in Western Australia in early 2014.
The Windimurra vanadium project is owned by Atlantic Vanadium which recently completed a definitive feasibility study (DFS) to redevelop the project, confirming that the project could produce approximately 7,600 tonnes per annum of high purity vanadium pentoxide flake.
“This EOI kicks off a major project that will boost power reliability in the Goldfields and support our clean energy transition,” said Amber-Jade Sanderson, state minister for energy and decarbonisation.
“We want to partner with industry to deliver local content, great jobs, and real value for WA. A locally made and sourced vanadium flow battery will create jobs during construction, deliver improved energy resilience for the region and complement other planned upgrades in the Goldfields region.
“Long-duration storage projects like this will play a bigger role as we build a more resilient energy system for the future.”
The second phase of the EoI process is expected to be held during early- to mid-2026 and will evaluate detailed business cases with the aim of selecting a preferred proponent to deliver the project.
The new came at the same time as one of the region’s major gold miners, Northern Star, outlined plans for a major wind, solar and hybrid to support the expansion and extra milling at its Kalgoorlie Super Pit.
More information, including the full EoI document, for the Vanadium battery project is available on the Energy Policy WA website.
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Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
