20250318 Main China flow batteries production

A factory worker makes vanadium flow energy storage battery accessories on an energy storage battery production line in Zhangye, China, on Feb. 25. © Getty Images

Is it too late for Australia to shake China's grip on vanadium batteries?

Li-ion alternative discovered Down Under is finally coming into its own

SYDNEY/SHANGHAI -- China's rapid rollout of solar and wind power generation is driving investment in energy storage systems, and the vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is emerging as a key technology.

Australian chemical engineer Maria Skyllas-Kazacos always knew that one day the innovation that she and her team at the University of New South Wales School of Chemical Engineering pioneered would make a commercial breakthrough. She had hoped, however, it would be in her home country of Australia, which boasts the world's largest deposits of vanadium.

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