In April 2021, a research team from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Bombay (IIT Bombay) installed a 50 kWp solar microgrid facility for an army base camp in Sikkim. The Sustainable Energy Storage Suitable for Microgrid (SENSUM) project comes under the Mission Innovation India plan. It is a step towards India’s ambitious goal to tap into renewable energy sources, and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, funded the 95- lakh venture.
The project, spearheaded by Prof Prakash C Ghosh, is one of a kind to be installed at an altitude of 17000 feet. The solar microgrid is integrated with a hybrid energy storage system comprising Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB) and Hydrogen fuel cells. Presently, the microgrid reduces the site’s dependency on a 30 kVA diesel generator, setting precedence for clean, eco-friendly energy sources.
Ferro-Alloy Resources Limited (LON:FAR) is developing the giant Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kyzylordinskaya oblast of southern Kazakhstan. The ore at this deposit is unlike that of nearly all other primary vanadium deposits and is capable of being treated by a much lower cost process.
