The grant has been issued by the Korean Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) which supports technical innovation in the energy sector.

The grant money will be used for a 25kW/100kWh vanadium V-KOR battery trial in Western Australia, where Protean is headquartered.

The V-KOR vanadium test battery is currently being shipped to Australia and preparations for the commencement of the installation process will start in the coming month.

The V-KOR technology, jointly owned by Protean Energy and its Korean partner DST is a proprietary Vanadium Redex Flow Battery Energy Storage System (VRFB-ESS) developed in response to the growing demand for energy storage solutions. The V-KOR battery solutions are built to order for commercial, industrial, and grid scale applications.

The V-KOR systems are a type of rechargeable flow battery that employs vanadium ions in different oxidation states to store energy in the form of tw liquid electrolytes. VRFBs are proven to have excellent durability and life spans of at least 15-20 years.

"This trial is the first major step for the company and V-KOR to capitalise on the growing energy sector in Australia," Protean chairman Bevan Tarrett said.

"The vanadium battery has the potential to play a crucial role in revolutionising the new energy sector and we are excited about the material advantages of the V-KOR system over other battery solutions. The vertical integration between our downstream vanadium resource and the vanadium V-KOR battery, puts Protean in a position of significant advantage in the rapidly expanding battery storage," he said.