Bushveld Minerals says consortium to invest US$30mln to increase capacity at Enerox

Bushveld Minerals Ltd (LON:BMN), a vertically integrated primary vanadium producer, said a consortium of investors in Enerox GmbH will invest US$30mln to scale up annual production capacity to 30MW (120-240 MWh) by 2022.

Enerox is a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) manufacturer, providing grid scale and micro-grid energy storage solutions. Future expansion plans could allow Enerox to increase its production capacity to at least 150 MW (600-1,200 MWh) by 2025.

“Investing in VRFB manufacturers is a part of Bushveld Energy’s strategy, designed to play a catalytic role in mobilising third-party capital to assist VRFB manufacturers scale up of sales and manufacturing capacity in order to meet the fast-growing demand for long duration energy storage solutions,” said Bushveld chief executive Fortune Mojapelo.

Bushveld said its share of the investment is US$7.5mln. It paid US$5mln yesterday and will pay the remainder this month.

The AIM-quoted company also said it received about US$8.8mln from the sale of a portion of its holding in Invinity Energy Systems PLC (LON:IES).

“The sell down of our Invinity stake is no reflection of any diminishing faith in the potential of the company,” said Mojapelo.

“We are proud of its achievements and continue to cooperate on other topics, including vanadium supply, vanadium electrolyte rental and the overall growth of the VRFB industry.

“Our decision is rather informed by our conservative capital allocation strategy across the group, which focuses resources on our mining and processing operations and seeks to place Bushveld Energy on a path to self-fund its future plans,” he added.

Story by ProactiveInvestors