On Thursday, 11 September, the Queensland Government officially announced a AUD 10 million investment to establish Australia’s first commercial vanadium electrolyte plant in Townsville. This initiative aims to build an end-to-end supply chain for vanadium flow batteries—from mineral mining to battery manufacturing.

This major move not only strengthens Queensland’s leadership in critical minerals and advanced manufacturing but is also expected to create nearly 600 jobs in North Queensland. The project is a collaboration between the Queensland Government, Vecco Group, and Idemitsu Australia. It will leverage high-quality vanadium resources from Julia Creek to develop a complete industrial chain “from mine to port,” directly supplying the rapidly growing global energy storage market with vanadium flow batteries.

According to the plan, construction of the production line is set to begin in 2026, with operations expected to commence in early 2028. This will position Queensland not only as Australia’s industrial hub for vanadium battery technology but also as a key player in the global vanadium energy storage supply chain.

The Queensland Government emphasised that this project goes beyond resource extraction—it is a crucial step toward high-value manufacturing: “We are turning minerals under the ground into jobs, trade, and prosperity above the ground.”

As a leading technology in long-duration energy storage, vanadium batteries are particularly suited for grid-scale storage and renewable energy integration. Queensland’s success in integrating the entire industrial chain demonstrates the forward-looking strategy of both government and industry in energy transition and offers strong confidence to international investors.

As the “blood system” of vanadium flow batteries, the vanadium electrolyte production line relies on core technologies such as high-purity preparation, continuous dissolution, and precise concentration control. These directly determine the energy efficiency and cycle life of the battery system.

To date, Zhonghe Energy Storage has successfully delivered multiple self-developed vanadium electrolyte production lines, providing customers with flexible, efficient, and stable integrated solutions that significantly enhance the production quality and large-scale delivery capability of high-purity electrolytes.