The Next Lithium? Why Vanadium Could Power the Future of Energy Storage

Every industrial era has its defining material.

Iron powered the railways.

Oil fueled the age of engines.

Silicon made the digital revolution possible.

Now, as the world races toward clean energy, critical minerals are becoming the backbone of the next transformation — and vanadium may quietly be the most important of them all.

What Are “Critical Minerals”?

The U.S. Geological Survey defines critical minerals as materials “essential to the economy and national security, but vulnerable to supply disruption.”

They’re the invisible foundation of our modern lives — from smartphones and EVs to solar panels and defense systems. The U.S. list includes over 50 of them: lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earths, and increasingly… vanadium.

Vanadium doesn’t make headlines like lithium, but its role is growing fast. It’s the element behind vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) — a game-changer for large-scale, long-duration energy storage.

Why Vanadium Matters

In traditional batteries, like lithium-ion, energy density and cycle life are limited. They degrade over time.

Vanadium flow batteries, on the other hand, can cycle tens of thousands of times without loss of capacity. They’re safe, fully recyclable, and ideal for stabilizing renewable grids that depend on wind and solar.

Think of them as the “long-haul” batteries for the power grid — not for your phone or car, but for the infrastructure that keeps cities running when the sun sets or the wind stops.

The Global Supply Problem

That’s where things get complicated. Vanadium supply is heavily concentrated:

• China produces ~70,000 metric tons (over 60% of global output).

• Russia follows with ~21,000 tons.

• South Africa and Brazil together account for much of the rest.

• The U.S. produces almost none.

As the Government Accountability Office put it:

“The U.S. is highly dependent on foreign countries for its supply of critical minerals for manufacturing.”

And in the case of vanadium,

“U.S. production is minimal to non-existent, and the country imports virtually all of its industrial vanadium requirements.” — Westwater Resources

This makes vanadium not just an industrial issue, but a national security one.

The Case for a Strategic Stockpile

Vanadium has already been designated a critical mineral by the U.S. government.

In 2025, the Department of the Interior even fast-tracked approval for a Utah uranium-vanadium mine — a clear signal that domestic capacity matters.

As one DOE advisor put it:

“Critical minerals are essential building blocks of the modern economy and our energy security… China has cornered the market for processing and refining.”

The solution isn’t just stockpiling metal — it’s building the domestic ecosystem to mine, refine, and integrate it into energy infrastructure.

Who’s Producing It Today

A few key players dominate the landscape:

• Energy Fuels Inc. (USA)

  Operates the White Mesa Mill in Utah — the only conventional vanadium mill in the U.S.

  “We’re the only primary producer of vanadium in North America.” — Mark Chalmers, CEOEnergy Fuels currently holds ~905,000 pounds of finished vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) in inventory — a strategic domestic anchor.

  
  

• Bushveld Minerals (South Africa)

  One of only three global primary producers. In 2022, it produced ~3,842 metric tons of vanadium at a cost of ~$25/kg.

  
  

• Largo Inc. (Canada/Brazil)

  A producer turning vanadium into a full energy ecosystem — with a joint venture to build vanadium flow battery systems across North America.

  “Largo and Stryten Energy plan to boost vanadium battery manufacturing… for long-duration storage.” — Wall Street Journal

These companies illustrate how tightly concentrated — and geopolitically vulnerable — the vanadium supply chain is.

Enter TeraVolt — Building America’s Strategic Anchor

To strengthen U.S. self-reliance, TeraVolt is developing Project Au, a large-scale vanadium-titanium-magnetite (VTM) and potential hydrogen resource in the western United States.

Project Au aims to become a strategic domestic anchor — producing vanadium for both steel and energy-storage applications, while building downstream refining and processing capabilities on U.S. soil.

By developing resources that integrate vanadium supply with clean-energy infrastructure, TeraVolt is aligning with the U.S. goal of rebuilding its critical-mineral sovereignty.

It’s a model for how private innovation and national strategy can intersect — creating domestic value chains that reduce dependency and power the energy transition.

The Opportunity for the U.S.

America’s clean energy transition won’t succeed if we trade oil dependency for mineral dependency.

That’s why developing domestic vanadium resources — like those in Utah, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest — is essential.

A strategic vanadium stockpile, paired with domestic refining and battery manufacturing, could:

1. Protect against export controls or global shocks.

2. Enable long-duration storage for renewables.

3. Create new jobs in critical-mineral and battery industries.

As one policy paper put it:

“A U.S. strategic mineral reserve can provide valuable support for domestic supply chain development efforts… the goal should be domestic production, not just hoarding minerals.” — The Breakthrough Institute

Final Thought

The race for clean energy isn’t just about technology — it’s about materials sovereignty.

Vanadium might not sparkle like lithium or gold, but it could be the quiet metal that powers the world’s next great energy leap — a bridge between the raw earth beneath us and the renewable grid above us.

And for the U.S., projects like TeraVolt’s Project Au could mark the turning point — from dependency to domestic strength.

The question is no longer whether vanadium is critical.

It’s whether we can secure enough of it, fast enough, to fuel the clean-energy future.