Vanadium could be the next strategic resource

If the all-vanadium redox flow battery eventually wins, it is very likely to enhance my country's position in the global new energy industry.

The positive and negative electrodes of all-vanadium redox flow batteries are made of metal vanadium, so the output of vanadium is very important. It is gratifying that my country's metal vanadium resources are very sufficient, and there is no situation of being controlled by others.

According to USGS data, the world's proven vanadium ore reserves totaled 22 million tons, of which China's reserves reached 9.5 million tons, accounting for 43% of the total; Russia and South Africa ranked second and third, accounting for 23% and 23% of global vanadium reserves respectively. 16%.

Since vanadium is a small metal, the application scenarios are not rich. At present, nearly 62% of the world's vanadium is produced in China, and 21% and 9% are produced in Russia and South Africa, respectively.

It is not difficult to see that China and Russia are the main producers of vanadium metal in the world, which leads to the possibility that European and American countries may encounter restrictions in obtaining vanadium. Therefore, their flow batteries mainly push the zinc-bromine route with general effect, and give up. An all-vanadium route that is more suitable for energy storage.

The price of vanadium is mainly influenced by two factors, one is steel demand and the other is environmental protection requirements.

In the past, vanadium was mainly used as an added element in steel to increase its strength. As a result, the price of vanadium has been closely related to steel demand for a long time. For example, in 2018, China raised the new national standard for screw threads, and as a result, vanadium prices soared.

In addition, the extraction of vanadium is mainly divided into two types: vanadium extraction from stone coal and vanadium extraction from vanadium slag.

The extraction of vanadium from stone coal mainly adopts the direct combustion method, which is simple and low in cost. However, it is obvious that this method is extremely unenvironmental, and the vanadium obtained is at the expense of the environment, so it has been basically suspended in 2017, which once triggered a short-term rise in vanadium prices.

At this stage, the production of vanadium is mainly vanadium extraction from vanadium slag. Due to environmental protection factors, China banned the introduction of vanadium slag in 2018, which further tightened the demand for vanadium in the industry.

If the volume of all-vanadium redox flow batteries is released in the future, the demand for vanadium metal may be further tightened. In the case of limited production capacity, vanadium may become the next important strategic resource in the future.