**Times reporter Tang Qiang.
On February 21, Xinzhu Co., Ltd. (002480) announced that in order to seize the first-mover advantage in the field of vanadium electrolyte, the board of directors deliberated and approved the "Proposal on the Investment and Construction of a Subsidiary with an Annual Output of 60,000m [3] Short-process Vanadium Electrolyte Production Line Project".
As early as December 15, 2023, Xinzhu Co., Ltd. signed a "joint venture agreement" with Sichuan Xingxin Vanadium Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xingxin Vanadium"), in which the two parties agreed to invest in the establishment of Sichuan Xingxin Vanadium Energy Technology Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as "Chuanfa Xingneng", which was registered and established on December 18 of that year), and Xingxin Vanadium introduced its technology, resources and other advantages in the field of vanadium electrolyte business into Chuanfa Xingneng.
According to the announcement, the main investor of the project is Chuanfa Xingneng, and the important direction of Chuanfa Xingneng's future development is the vanadium electrolyte preparation business, and the products are mainly used in the field of vanadium battery energy storage, and the total investment of the project is estimated at 46.3 billion yuan, the capital ** for Chuanfa Xingneng self-raised. According to the data of the enterprise investigation, Chuanfa Xingneng is a holding subsidiary of Xinzhu Co., Ltd., with a shareholding ratio of 60%, and Xingxin Vanadium holds 40% of the shares.
As a partner, Xingxin Vanadium built a demonstration production line and supporting testing laboratory for long-process vanadium electrolyte in 2015 and a pilot line of 3500m [3] A electrolyte based on short-process technology in 2023, accumulating rich experience and technical reserves for short-process vanadium electrolyte production line construction projects.
Further, the above-mentioned project site is located in Lianjie Industrial Park, Weiyuan County, Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, with an annual output of 60,000m [3] vanadium electrolyte; The project will be constructed in two phases, the first phase will build a vanadium electrolyte production line with an annual output of 30,000m [3], which is expected to be completed and put into operation in October 2024; The second phase will increase the production capacity by 30,000m [3] a on the basis of the first phase by increasing the main process production equipment, and will be built on a selective basis according to market conditions.
According to the calculation of Xinzhu shares, the average annual income of the project after reaching production is 127.4 billion yuan, net profit of 67.15 million yuan, and the financial internal rate of return of investment after income tax was 1959%, and the investment period is 575 years, the expected benefits are better.
At present, ternary lithium batteries and sodium-sulfur batteries have frequent energy storage accidents, and safety has become a key factor in the development of the energy storage industry. In response to this situation, in 2022, the National Energy Administration issued the "25 Key Requirements for Preventing Power Production Accidents (2022 Edition) (Draft for Comments)", which clearly stated that ternary lithium batteries, sodium-sulfur batteries and cascade power batteries should not be used for medium and large electrochemical energy storage power stations.
Xinzhu Co., Ltd. said that as a rookie in the field of energy storage, the safety advantages of all-vanadium flow batteries are highlighted. All-vanadium flow batteries use the mutual conversion of vanadium ions in different valence states to store and release chemical energy to realize the process of charging and discharging. Different from the current mainstream battery of energy storage power station - lithium battery using non-aqueous electrolyte, due to the electrolyte ions of all-vanadium flow battery exist in aqueous solution, the possibility of overheating and high-quality is greatly reduced, and the safety performance makes it stand out in the field of large-scale and long-term energy storage, and has a good market development prospect.
It is reported that at present, the core technology of vanadium battery is in the hands of a few countries such as China and Japan, and China's flow battery technology ranks among the top in the world, representing enterprises including Dalian Rongke, Beijing Puneng, Shanghai Electric, Weilide, etc., and the leading foreign vanadium battery companies mainly include Sumitomo Electric of Japan, UNIENERGY Technologies of the United States, Voltstorage of Germany, Invinity of the United Kingdom, etc.
In 2023, China's vanadium battery energy storage projects will accelerate their implementation. Recently, a number of enterprises such as State Power Investment Corporation, Three Gorges Energy, and China Nuclear Huineng have made bidding announcements for GWh vanadium battery energy storage systems; At the end of 2023, the General Department of the National Energy Administration issued the Notice on Publicizing New Energy Storage Pilot Demonstration Projects, and a total of 56 projects were listed as new energy storage pilot demonstration projects, including 6 all-vanadium flow battery energy storage demonstration projects.
Xinzhu said that this foreign investment is an important measure for the industrial structure adjustment and improvement of asset quality of listed companies, which is conducive to creating new profit growth points for Xinzhu shares and is of great significance to promoting the company's transformation and development.
In addition to Xinzhu shares, a number of listed companies such as vanadium and titanium shares and Yongtai Energy have successively disclosed new plans or new progress in the layout of the vanadium battery industry, and the industrialization development has accelerated. According to the report, since 2023, a large number of 100-megawatt vanadium battery energy storage power stations have completed project declarations in various provinces, and this part of the 100-megawatt vanadium battery power stations will be installed and put into operation in 2024 and 2025 to achieve large-scale grid-connected applications. With policy support and continuous improvement of the industrial chain, the vanadium battery industry is expected to achieve rapid development.