EUROPE?
“Will they Pay?”
… And
who in Europe might ‘come to the party to fund Australia’s premium new vanadium project?
Fed Minister, Madeleine King, seemed to be saying to the AFR’s senior correspondent, Jacob Greber, she was aiming at twistimg a few arms to encourage European money to look beyond Australian lithium but will any of it flow into Australian Vanadium?
(is she heading over there!)
Her interview from last Wednesday is in the spoiler
https://www.afr . com/companies/mining/is-anyone-going-to-pay-for-a-green-premium-20240131-p5f1df
.. And it’s kind of general, but there
are a few snippets which might hint at things to come for AVL, including that Madeliene intends working closely in her Federal capacity with the State Governments, and that she had other priorities beyond the ‘twisting’ of European arms.
ie she intends …
.. “..to ensure that around half a billion dollars in funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund that Labor has earmarked for critical minerals projects gets allocated, as well as “bedding down” international partnerships. “The Critical Minerals Compact with the US is of particular importance,” which includes reclassifying Australian suppliers as “domestic” for American defence procurement purposes.
Ooooh US arms on her agenda as well?!!
Will AVL get a “domestic” label? And produce a product that will get procured by US defence?*
And funding from NAIF?
- Seeing as both Madeleine and NAIF showed their faces at the official opening of the AVL Wangara Electrolyte Facility (the ‘WEF’?) on January 17….
and especially considering it is a US Vanadium plant, had a bunch of USV people there as well, along with -
“ a host of other notable government dignitaries, including new-ish WA State Minister for Mines and Petroleum David Michael and US Deputy Consul General Lu Zhou”. [ref]
Well it makes me wonder
Spoiler : AFR 07/02/24 https://www.afr . com/companies/mining/is-anyone-going-to-pay-for-a-green-premium-20240131-p5f1df
‘Is anyone going to pay’ for a green premium? Madeleine King says she is determined to push Europeans to value “green premium” Australian critical minerals above cheaper rivals.Jacob Greber Resources Minister Madeleine King will increasingly challenge her European counterparts to press the continent’s behemoth carmakers into favouring Australian critical minerals over cheaper but ethically dubious sources of raw materials for EVs and green energy technology. In an interview to outline her agenda for the year ahead, King describes a worsening disconnect between Europe’s “really keen” environmental, social and governance ambitions versus what they are prepared to pay for sustainable and ethical supply. “Much as we want a green premium on some of these low-volume commodities, “It does feel like there’s a lot of talk and a lot of hype but not always the action people want to see,” says Resources Minister Madeleine King. Martin Ollman Australia’s nickel and lithium industries tank Australia holds a unique position in the global supply chain for the critical minerals market at a time of growing geopolitical tension and rising focus on net-zero technologies. BHP nickel boss Jessica Farrell has said Australia needs the right policy settings to remain globally competitive in strategic and critical minerals. King last year unveiled the Australian government’s critical minerals strategy, which aims to accelerate development of extraction and value-adding of materials needed for EVs, batteries, magnets, wind turbines and military equipment. By 2040, according to the International Energy Agency, demand for battery minerals such as lithium will jump to 40 times on 2020 levels, while rare earth elements supply may need to increase seven times. But slow development timeframes for critical minerals projects and low-volume markets, which are often dominated by China or producers from economies with weak environmental or labour standards “If the energy transformation is about saving the planet, of being cleaner and greener and sustainable and having high standards, there has to be recognition of those [higher] standards in Australia. Otherwise, what’s the point?” Will they pay? King tells The Australian Financial Review she is constantly reminded of the “conflict” between the need to encourage more consumers to switch to technologies such as battery electric vehicles at a price point they can afford.find it very difficult to compete A funeral at a cemetery in Polewali Mandar, Indonesia. A number of people were killed late last year at nickel operations in the country, the latest in a series of fatalities. AP King adds that on the other “end of the spectrum”, she hears from many Europeans that they are eager for even bolder ESG standards, with little understanding of how they work in practice. Shared investment The resources minister says her priority for critical minerals development this year will be to boost international investment in Australia, help support miners facing challenging market conditions – such as lithium producers – and bed down Labor’s growing desire to develop “common-user infrastructure” for critical minerals proponents. Rather than pursuing US-style production credits, Labor aims to unlock new critical minerals supplies by expanding “co-investment” The government late last year updated the critical minerals list, King is now considering two potential models of support. One is to build new greenfield infrastructure hubs, and the second would repurpose and reinvest in existing industrial parks to suit critical minerals Asked where such hubs would most likely be placed, King says they will inevitably be near deposits. “I don’t want to pre-empt [decisions about hub locations], but there’s going to be a sort of natural selection, for want of a better term. “You don’t necessarily need to throw a whole bunch of government funding at a shiny new industrial park, or something like that. But there are constraints within existing infrastructure that can be addressed”. Low-hanging fruit, as she describes them, may be available in the form of expanding existing roads and other common-use infrastructure such as railways or ensuring supply of energy and gas that will be critical to critical minerals processing. List revisions King’s other priorities are to ensure that around half a billion dollars in funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund that Labor has earmarked for critical minerals projects gets allocated, as well as “bedding down” international partnerships. “The Critical Minerals Compact with the US is of particular importance,” which includes reclassifying Australian suppliers as “domestic” for American defence procurement purposes. King says she is also open to ongoing revisions of the critical minerals list. “It’s a working document that at a minimum gets reviewed very three years. But if there’s a change of circumstances, I would do it tomorrow.”greater government support
* FWIW back in 2020 Invinity
… “ entered into an agreement to deliver two VS3 VFB battery modules, with a total capacity of 72 kilowatt-hours, to Ameresco, which is one of the largest independent energy services providers in the US and UK. The battery modules will be deployed by Ameresco as part of an investigation in to how flow battery technology could support microgrids in defence applications. The project received funding from the US Department of Defense.….…. ……. … Chief Executive Larry Zulch said: "These deals have importance that belies their size, so we're pleased to talk about them.… ….. . Supporting Ameresco's investigation into the use of VFBs is the first step toward the potential wider deployment by one of the most significant users of energy in the world, the US DOD." https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/ne...o-deliver-uninterrupted-power-to-us-site.aspx
More on US DoD interest here:
https://www.energy-storage.news/us-...um-flow-batteries-worthy-of-further-scrutiny/
Cheers
(20min delay)