Vanadium Vault: Australia’s Bold Battery Bet Beyond Lithium

Australia’s bet on vanadium-flow batteries may rewrite the rules of clean energy storage.

7 Apr 2025

Lithium has long ruled the battery world. But Australia, one of its biggest exporters, is now placing a cautious bet on its lesser-known cousin: vanadium. A $6m plant under construction in Queensland signals a turn toward vanadium flow batteries; bulkier, costlier, yet more durable than their lithium-ion rivals.

Critical Minerals Group (CMG), the firm behind the venture, is not merely building a factory. It is constructing what it hopes will become a fully domestic supply chain. The plant, located in Crestmead Business Park, will begin by importing vanadium but aims to switch to locally mined material from Queensland by 2029. This would be a rare feat in battery tech: a homegrown, sovereign system, free from the bottlenecks that plague global lithium supply chains.

Vanadium flow batteries, though not new, have struggled to gain traction. They are larger than lithium-ion systems and more expensive to install. But they do not degrade with use, pose less risk of fire, and are better suited for the long-duration storage needed by grids reliant on fickle wind and solar power. The growing demand for energy resilience may tilt the market in their favour.

Governments appear convinced. CMG’s facility has secured A$4.7m in public funding, split between Queensland’s Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund and federal sources. Japanese energy group Idemitsu, a CMG shareholder, is also backing the project, an indication that the interest extends well beyond Australia’s borders.

Local politicians hope the factory will energise the region’s economy with high-tech jobs. CMG, for its part, sees the effort as visionary. “This isn’t just about making batteries,” said a spokesperson. “It’s about rethinking how we power the future.”

Still, rethinking is easier than replacing. Vanadium flow batteries remain unproven at scale, and costs remain steep. Yet lithium’s dominance is no longer assured. With prices volatile and supply chains stretched, vanadium’s durability may prove its decisive virtue.

Set to open in early 2026, the Queensland plant could mark a shift not only in technology but in Australia’s ambition to shape the global clean-energy race, not just supply it.