Australian Vanadium Limited (ASX: AVL) has executed a funding agreement with the Western Australian Government for up to $15 million to support the design, construction and commissioning of its first proposed vanadium electrolyte manufacturing facility, built around its V-NOMAD™ electrolyte production technology platform.

How the grant works

The funding comes through the Investment Attraction Fund (IAF), New Energies Industries Funding Stream Round 2. Under the agreement, the WA Government contributes up to 50% of eligible project costs, capped at $15 million, with AVL responsible for funding the balance. Crucially, payments are made in line with the agreement's terms and conditions, including applicable project milestones — they are not paid upfront, so the money tracks delivery.

V-NOMAD™: electrolyte manufacturing that travels

V-NOMAD™ is a relocatable manufacturing solution intended to be co-located with vanadium flow battery (VFB) energy storage systems, an approach designed to reduce electrolyte costs by removing logistics and lead-time friction between where electrolyte is made and where it is used.

The planned facility is designed to provide high-capacity electrolyte manufacturing capable of supporting gigawatt-hour scale VFB projects, which AVL describes as a material expansion of its existing electrolyte manufacturing capability. The platform was the subject of an earlier ASX announcement dated 31 March 2026.

Permits already in place

An existing AICIS electrolyte certificate already permits AVL to produce up to 27,509 tonnes a year of a key electrolyte chemical, which the company estimates could support about 2.5 GWh of flow batteries — a useful marker of how much battery capacity sits behind the regulatory paperwork before the plant is built.

Vertical integration from vanadium to VSUN

The proposed facility is intended to support future deployment of VFB projects, including long-duration energy storage pursued by AVL's wholly owned subsidiary VSUN Energy. Chief Executive Officer Graham Arvidson described a strategy integrating Western Australian vanadium production, electrolyte manufacturing and utility-scale vanadium flow battery deployment.

"The awarding of this grant is an important milestone for AVL and recognises the progress we have made in developing vanadium electrolyte manufacturing capability in Western Australia." — Graham Arvidson, CEO, Australian Vanadium Limited

Arvidson added that the grant will support the next stage of development of the V-NOMAD™ platform and AVL's broader integration strategy.

Why electrolyte siting matters

Vanadium electrolyte is the liquid that stores energy inside a flow battery. Because it is a major input to these systems, its cost matters directly for long-duration storage economics — which is why AVL's plan to co-locate manufacturing with VFB projects is as much a cost strategy as an industrial one.

This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.