Elcora Advanced Materials has announced the acquisition of STE ERMAZONE.A.R.L (“ERMAZONE”) which includes ten vanadium licenses/concessions sites in Morocco. This strategic acquisition supports Elcora’s plan to enhance both its mining and energy storage solutions by adding additional markets related to battery technologies.
Elcora’s methodology in processing along with mining and battery experience creates an opportunity to leverage battery metals and minerals critical to energy storage applications. Vanadium’s role in the growing energy grid storage will increase dramatically over the coming years, enabling wider use of renewable power such as wind and solar. According to the latest (BNEF) forecast, energy storage installations around the world will multiply exponentially, from a modest 9GW/17GWh deployed as of 2018 to 1,095GW/2,850GWh by 2040. Furthermore, the U.S. Biden administration has also pledged to deploy 1050-1570 gigawatts of solar power by 2050 and over 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030, therefore the need for energy storage is crucial.
Vanadium flow battery is a type of rechargeable flow battery that employs vanadium ions in different oxidation states to store chemical energy currently used for grid energy storage attached to power plants and electrical grids. Roll out of large-scale vanadium flow batteries are underway across the globe, with many others being planned or under construction. Securing a strong supply of quality vanadium minerals will be key to the growth of energy storage solutions.
Because of this, Elcora is pleased to broaden its scope to supply materials and applications associated with battery technologies. Vanadium-based cell chemistries hold the promise to resolve persistent problems associated with large-scale energy storage.
Commented Troy Grant, CEO, “Elcora is devoted to unlocking the full potential of solar and wind through large-scale energy storage capacity. Like other minerals and metals needed for li-ion batteries, the thriving renewable industry will accelerate demand for high quality vanadium. Elcora will commence trial production to obtain sufficient material for a production process test run.”