AVL and Alcoa to assess major vanadium flow battery project in Western Australia
Date: 06 Aug 2026 |
Source: Energy-Storage.news, 6 August 2026
Proposed 50–80 MW system could provide 400–640 MWh of long-duration energy storage for Alcoa’s alumina operations
Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Alcoa of Australia Limited to evaluate a large-scale vanadium flow battery energy storage system for Alcoa’s alumina refinery operations in Western Australia.
Under the 18-month MoU, AVL and its wholly owned subsidiary, VSUN Energy, will undertake a scoping-level study of a system with a nominal power output of 50–80 MW and a storage duration of 6–8 hours, with the potential to extend beyond eight hours. At the proposed configuration, the battery would provide total storage capacity of approximately 400–640 MWh.
The study will examine the technical and financial merits of deploying the system at Alcoa’s refinery sites and associated landholdings. AVL and VSUN Energy will assess system design, technical specifications, project costs, vanadium electrolyte supply, financing structures and potential government funding opportunities, with support from Alcoa.
The collaboration will explore how long-duration energy storage can help an energy-intensive industrial operation increase flexibility, manage energy costs and make greater use of renewable electricity. Vanadium flow batteries are well suited to long-duration applications because their energy capacity can be scaled through the volume of electrolyte, while offering long operating life and the ability to cycle repeatedly without the same capacity degradation profile associated with many conventional battery chemistries.
The proposed study is expected to draw on AVL’s V-NOMAD electrolyte technology platform and VSUN Energy’s Lumina utility-scale vanadium flow battery development platform. It also highlights the potential to connect Western Australia’s substantial vanadium resources with domestic manufacturing, long-duration storage deployment and industrial decarbonisation.
Alcoa operates alumina refining and bauxite mining assets in Western Australia and has set a target to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 30% by 2030 from a 2015 baseline. Long-duration energy storage could support this objective by shifting renewable electricity across extended periods and strengthening operational resilience.
The MoU is non-binding, apart from customary confidentiality and intellectual-property provisions, and does not commit either company to a future commercial agreement. Any project would remain subject to the outcome of the study and subsequent approvals and agreements.
A growing role for vanadium-based storage
The announcement follows AVL’s Stage Two proposal to the Western Australian Government for the separate 50 MW/500 MWh Kalgoorlie Vanadium Battery Energy Storage System. That ten-hour project is intended to strengthen grid reliability in the Eastern Goldfields, with commercial operation targeted for 2029 if AVL is selected and the project proceeds.
Together, the Alcoa study and the Kalgoorlie proposal demonstrate growing interest in vanadium flow batteries for applications requiring many hours of dependable storage. Such systems can complement shorter-duration technologies by storing renewable energy for dispatch during prolonged periods of high demand or lower generation.