With the demand for high tech power applications and electric cars on the rise, both the mining and battery industries have started to receive a lot of attention. Not all of it’s good, though. Many are concerned about a shortage of supplies, while others are worried about battery (particularly those that are lithium-based) capacities waning after years of use.
But for those concerned about the latter, there is another metal that can be used to manufacture batteries – one with multiple attributes that make it the preferred choice. These batteries are called vanadium flow batteries.
Vanadium is the Preferred Metal for Batteries – Why?
Battery metals prices have increased considerably, especially vanadium prices, which have surged nearly 460% since 2016. And there’s a good reason for that. Compared to lithium-batteries, vanadium flow batteries are the far better choice, despite lithium receiving mainstream attention.
A hard, silvery-grey metal, vanadium is used in batteries for utility-scale energy storage. In simple terms, if utilities and grid-scale battery storage are relevant to manufacturers, vanadium is the way to go.
Sure, vanadium is on the more expensive side of things, which is why some manufacturers turned to organic molecules called quinones – a cheaper alternative to vanadium, but still not lithium. But the cost of vanadium hasn’t entirely scared off the market, as investors and companies know that while quinones flow batteries are cheaper to manufacture, vanadium flow batteries last much longer.
Speaking of, the lifetime of vanadium flow batteries is one of the main reasons why people prefer this metal over lithium and quinones in the first place. Compared to lithium batteries, which last roughly 3-5 years, vanadium flow batteries have lifetimes of up to 20 years.
Moreover, and perhaps the reason why people call it the vanadium advantage, flow batteries based on this metal do not have a risk of combustion – and lithium batteries do. That, and vanadium flow batteries produce low levels of heat. Combine those two things with the fact that these batteries use a liquid, non-flammable electrolyte solution to store energy, the grounds for the metal being popular is apparent.
Key Takeaways: Why Vanadium is a Better Metal for Batteries
– We are in the middle of a vanadium market boom and have been for two years. It’s only forecasted to keep going.
– Compared to lithium batteries, vanadium flow batteries last longer, do not pose the risk of combustion and are an all-around better-performing metal for energy storage.
– There are other alternatives if manufacturers don’t want to use lithium or vanadium; the latter is quite expensive. At the end of the day, however, the benefits of vanadium flow batteries shine and are hard to ignore. The extra cash is almost always worth it.
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