Idemitsu increases investment in Vecco, promoting a vanadium project in Australia - Promoting the development of a low-carbon business in response to the global energy transition -

Vecco is working on a project related to a vanadium mine and an electrolyte plant (Project name: Debella Project, hereinafter “Debella PJ”) in Queensland, Australia. The Debella PJ aims to build a value chain of local production and local consumption, including the mining of vanadium, its refining into vanadium pentoxide, and the production of vanadium electrolyte for redox flow batteries. Vecco expects to raise an additional AUD$10 million in total through this capital increase, with the funds to be used for project feasibility studies, environmental approvals, refining and refining testing, and mining area application costs. A portion of the funds will also be earmarked for research and development of final products.

A redox flow battery is a battery that stores energy in an electrolyte. With characteristics suitable for large storage batteries for power systems, such as easy expansion and long life, these batteries are attracting attention as contributing to the promotion of the introduction of renewable energies.

The Debella PJ first aims to launch a vanadium electrolyte manufacturing plant (35MWh capacity) for redox flow batteries within the current year. This will be the first commercial-scale electrolyte manufacturing facility in Australia, and its construction will be supported by the Queensland State Government's Industry Partnership Program^*2, a public-private partnership program related to the promotion of the storage battery industry. In the future, the company plans to increase its vanadium electrolyte production capacity to 350 MWh or more per year. The goal is to begin mining vanadium through mine development by the end of 2024.

【Project Overview】

• 1. Project name:
  Debella Project
• 2. Resources to be mined and produced:
  Main products: vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and vanadium electrolyte
  Accompanying by-product: high-purity alumina (HPA)^*3, rare earth elements
• 3. Location of the mine:
  Julia Creek, Queensland (650 km west of Townsville)
• 4.URL
  https://veccogroup.com.au/operations/debella-v-hpa-project/
• Five. project image
  
  

In order to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality society while fulfilling our responsibility to provide a stable supply of energy, we have set Vision for 2030 of being a "Your Reliable Partner for a Brighter Future."
In addition, in the "Medium-term Management Plan (FY2023-FY2025)" announced on November 16 last year, we have newly established Vision for 2050 "Shaping Change." As the movement towards decarbonization accelerates worldwide, we are promoting our entry into the rare metals business and acquiring knowledge by utilizing the business foundation we have built up through approximately 40 years of coal mining operations in Australia. We see this as an opportunity to have a business foundation as a Japanese company in Australia, which is leading the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and will continue to actively respond to Australia's energy transition and work to create low-carbon and decarbonized businesses.