1.2 MWh Mistral prototype to be deployed in British Columbia, Canada supported by CAD $0.5m award from B.C. Centre for Innovation & Clean Energy
Invinity Energy Systems plc, a leading global manufacturer of utility-grade energy storage, is pleased to announce that the Company will deploy the first prototype of its next-generation product at a site in British Columbia ("B.C."), Canada early next year, funded in part by a CAD $0.5m award from the B.C. Centre for Innovation & Clean Energy ("CICE").
The award will support the manufacture and deployment of a 1.2 MWh prototype of Invinity's next-generation vanadium flow battery ("VFB"), code-named "Mistral", at a site near Invinity's engineering and operations centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Expected to be operational in H1 2024, this will be the first Mistral product deployed as a pilot in the field. The prototype will be tested against a commercial use case with the intention of demonstrating performance of the newly-developed product as a customer facing, fully-integrated energy storage system. Further details of this project are expected to be announced before the end of this year.
This funding further supports Invinity's Mistral product development timeline by accelerating testing of the product at operational scale. This Mistral prototype will also act as an important reference site for the Company's stakeholders, while providing referenceable performance data to prospective customers.
This funding award coincides with the formal opening of the Company's newly expanded manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Canada, capable of delivering up to 200 MWh of Invinity's products annually. The opening event, which took place yesterday and included addresses by Invinity CEO Larry Zulch, Invinity CCO Matt Harper and CICE Deputy Executive Director Todd Sayers to the more than 100 attending press, partners, customers and other stakeholders.
CICE, the awarding body, has a mission to advance the world towards a net-zero carbon future. Founded in 2021, the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy provides non-dilutive funding to B.C.-based companies and entrepreneurs that helps fund the commercial development and scaling of made-in-B.C. clean energy solutions from Canada to the world.
Dr. Ged McLean, Executive Director at B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy said:
"As the number of intermittent renewable energy sources grow, so does the need for world-class energy storage technology that can stabilize utility grids. Invinity Energy Systems has exceptional global market potential and is quickly becoming a recognized leader in this field. CICE is thrilled to fund the leading-edge company and accelerate expansion of its made-in-B.C. design and manufacturing capabilities, bringing great innovation from our province to the world."
Larry Zulch, Chief Executive Officer at Invinity said:
"We gratefully acknowledge CICE's support for our progress toward providing the large-scale, non-lithium energy storage a net-zero world demands. Mistral will highlight Vancouver, B.C.'s unmatched capabilities in electrochemistry and Invinity's deep expertise in VFBs. We're tremendously excited at the progress we're making toward changing the world of stationary energy storage, further accelerated by the award from CICE."
