BCPG PLC, a Thai renewables firm, has invested $24 million in VRB Energy, a producer of vanadium flow batteries, to help it expand its worldwide energy storage business.
The investment will go into developing VRB Energy’s unique storage system, enhancing production capacity, and vertically integrating vanadium processes. The parties also agreed to work together to add storage to BCPG’s current and upcoming projects, as well as to investigate additional commercial growth prospects in Thailand, such as manufacturing localization.
Several large-scale projects are being developed around China in the future as part of the Chinese government’s flagship clean energy and grid modernization strategy programme. VRB was awarded a 100 MW/500 MWh project in Hubei Province via the programme and recently commissioned a 3 MW/12 MWh prototype plant.
With projects in Thailand, Japan, Laos, the Philippines, and Indonesia, BCPG is involved in developing and running assets spanning solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric technologies throughout Asia. The firm has 900 MW energy projects in operation and over 2,200 MW in the pipeline across Southeast Asia. A subsidiary of BCPG has inked a financing agreement with the Asian Development Bank for Thailand’s first wind-plus-storage project, which the ADB stated could be copied and scaled up elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
VRB Energy’s long-duration batteries are a perfect fit to satisfy the rising demand for renewable energy, grid stability, and microgrid development, and BCPG is committed to strengthening its position as a leader in the green energy industry through investment in smart energy solutions. The market for energy storage is quickly developing in Thailand, and the investment should assist VRB Energy and BCPG fulfil that need as it develops throughout Southeast Asia, as well as existing demand for VRB’s products in China.