News Release:
Vanteck schedules installation of Vanadium
Vanteck (VRB) Technology Corp VRB
Shares issued 19,770,445 Nov 27 close $1.45
Tue 28 Nov 2000 News Release
Mr. Rodney Duncan reports
Vanteck (VRB) Technology has provided the status of Vanteck's initial 250
kilowatt to 520 kilowatt-hours (nominal) constant power Vanadium Energy
Storage System (VESS) unit which will be trailed by TSI, the technical
services division of Eskom of South Africa. The demonstration trial by
Eskom is for purposes of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to a
400VAC line in Cape Town, South Africa, along with a range of other power
utility application tests. The TSI-VESS-UPS power system trial is geared to
protecting sensitive load equipment against short duration dips and line
interruptions of up to two hours and to improve line power quality. The
status of the initial VESS demonstration unit is as follows.
Installation and commissioning in Cape Town is scheduled for the period
February through April, 2001. The trial period, after commissioning, will
be for up to six months. The company's technical consultants, Telepower
Australia Pty. Ltd. recently visited the Cape Town site along with
TSI-Eskom technical engineers. A project planning report which identifies
and costs out the various engineering, procurement, installation, component
supply and commissioning issues has been completed as a follow on from the
site visit in South Africa.
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (SEI) of Japan has been contracted to
supply the cell stacks. The cell stack specification is based on six
42-kilowatt stacks that will be connected electrically in series. The
electrical performance is measured at the terminal output of the
series-connected stacks.
Electrical (discharging)
The minimum total system output voltage is 650 volts direct current (DC)
(at output terminal, at 250 kilowatt load).
The maximum total system output voltage is 850 volts DC (at output
terminal).
The maximum total system output current is 385 A DC (at 650 volts DC output
into 250 kilowatt load).
The minimum total system power output is 250 kilowatts at electrolyte SOC
less than 20 per cent.
The minimum total power per stack is 42 kilowatts at electrolyte SOC less
than 20 per cent.
The number of cells per stack is 100 cells.
The cell stacks are under construction by SEI for delivery at the end of
December, 2000, in Japan.
SEI is a leading supplier of electrical transmission and distributed
equipment to power companies worldwide. SEI has maintained a strong
interest in VRB technology since the early 1990s and is a licensee of the
technology from Pinnacle VRB Ltd., Australia, for stationary applications
in Japan. SEI has successfully built demonstration scale units primarily
for grid load leveling applications in Japan and are now building and
installing commercial scale units in Japan. The most recent commercial
application is a 1.5-megawatt uninterruptible power supply unit.
The Vanadium electrolyte will be manufactured jointly by Vanteck and
Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corp. of South Africa (Highveld). To this end a
vanadium electrolyte pilot plant has been constructed in South Africa at
Highveld's facilities with a current capacity of 170 L per day. Test
batches of electrolyte are being trailed by SEI prior to scaling up the
plant. The total volume of 1.6-metre vanadium electrolyte required for the
Eskom trial is 42 cubic metres.
Highveld is a substantial steel and ferro-alloy producer and is the largest
producer of vanadium in the world. (The company, as reported in Stockwatch
April 26, 2000, has a separate alliance agreement with Highveld.)
The other components, namely the AC/DC converter, will be supplied by
TSI/Eskom and the project coordination will be undertaken by Vanteck's
primary technical consultants Telepower Australia.
Eskom is the fifth largest power utility in the world and the dominant
South African power utility supplying approximately 95 per cent of the
country's electricity requirements which amounts to more than half of the
electricity generated on the African continent. Eskom has 26,461 kilometres
of transmission lines, which span the entire country and also carry power
to neighbouring countries. As a member of the Southern African Power Pool
(SAPP), which consists of 12 national utilities, Eskom also supports the
development of a southern African transmission grid to encourage
co-operation and accelerate economic growth in the region.
As part of Vanteck's commercialization strategy for the VRB technology in
South Africa and the African market Vanteck, as previously reported (see
news in Stockwatch Aug. 11, 2000), has entered into a tripartite heads of
agreement with TSI-Eskom and Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corp. Ltd. of
Witbank, South Africa.
The Vanteck, TSI, Highveld alliance has been formed for the purpose of
among other things: having TSI identify and host certain demonstration
trial sites for Vanteck's Vanadium Redox Battery (VRB)/Vanadium Energy
Storage System (VESS); establishing through demonstration trials the
further development of the technology as an energy storage system for the
South Africa and the African market for which TSI operates; and providing a
framework for the parties to bring together their particular strengths and
credibility as well as their technical and operational resources with
respect to the commercialization of the technology.
The Eskom 250 kilowatt to 520 kilowatt-hour demonstration unit will be the
first and largest VRB/VESS installation of size outside of Japan to date
and will also be the first to use non-Japanese manufactured electrolyte.
The initial Eskom unit gives Vanteck invaluable experience prior to scaling
up in South Africa as it brings Vanteck's alliance partners and technical
consultants together with a specific target project. |
