Open day marks the next stage of Invinity’s growth as demand for its leading vanadium flow batteries increases
Friday 16 June 2023
On Thursday 8 June, Invinity Energy Systems hosted over 100 attending press, partners, customers and other stakeholders including the British Columbia (“B.C.”) Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (“CICE”) at the formal opening of its expanded manufacturing facility in Vancouver.
Above: Guests attending the open day
Expanded in a short space of time in response to the fast-growing demand for Invinity’s alternative to lithium-ion batteries for energy storage projects, the Company’s Vancouver facility is now able to produce up to 200 MWh of vanadium flow batteries per year. This strategic investment in Invinity’s Canadian manufacturing base will enable the Company to further scale up production to meet the record sales achieved of nearly 31 MWh secured by the Company at the end of 2022.
Alongside tours of the factory and opportunities for visitors to see Invinity’s vanadium flow battery production line, CEO Larry Zulch, CCO Matt Harper and CICE Deputy Executive Director Todd Sayers gave addresses to the visiting guests on British Columbia and Canada’s position as a centre of excellence for electrochemical battery storage, Invinity’s pioneering role in the development and commercialisation of energy storage deployed around the world, and the importance of accelerating the transition to net zero.
“The goal is to really fast-track made-in-B.C. technologies and innovations that get us on the path quicker to net zero… What we’re contributing to is (Invinity’s) next-generation products that they are prototyping that are also creating jobs with a made-in-B.C. idea”
– Todd Sayers, Deputy Executive Director, B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy
Coinciding with the Vancouver factory open day, the CICE also announced a funding award of CAD $0.5m towards the manufacture of Invinity’s first pilot project of its next-generation product, code-named “Mistral”.
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. This funding further supports Invinity’s Mistral product development timeline by accelerating testing of the product at operational scale.
Further details of this project are expected to be announced before the end of this year.
“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.”
– Dr. Ged McLean, Executive Director, B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy
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.
“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.”
– Larry Zulch, Chief Executive Officer, Invinity Energy Systems