Mr. A. Lee Barker reports

SPARTON RESOURCES INC. ANNOUNCES OPENING CEREMONY HELD FOR VRB ENERGY'S VANADIUM FLOW BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT AND HUBEI CHINA "GIGAFACTORY"

Sparton Resources Inc. says that construction of a world-class 100-megawatt/500-megawatt-hour storage system by VRB Energy Inc. has officially started. The project, launched in Xiangyang, Hubei province, China, is being implemented by Hubei province and the State Power Investment Group as part of China's national carbon-neutral and carbon peak strategy. The total investment in the project is 9.32 billion renminbi ($1.814-billion (Canadian)). Five billion renminbi ($973.3-million (Canadian)) will be invested in the construction of the one-gigawatt wind power and photovoltaic power generation projects, and 4.32 billion renminbi ($841-million (Canadian)) will be invested in the construction of the initial 100-megawatt-hour all-vanadium redox flow battery energy storage power station along with 500 megawatts of distributed rooftop photovoltaic installations. The company currently owns, through its subsidiary VanSpar Mining Inc., a 9.8-per-cent equity interest in VRB Energy, a leading manufacturer of vanadium flow batteries for large-scale energy storage related to clean renewable electricity generation (see Sparton news release dated July 2, 2021).

The official opening ceremony was held on Aug. 29, 2021, in the Xiangyang new high-tech park, Hubei, China, for the 100 MW/500 MWh vanadium redox flow battery energy storage power station. This was commissioned by the Hubei Green-Move Zhongvan New Energy Co. Ltd. In attendance were senior party and government leaders from the Xiyang municipality, representatives from the State Power Investment Group, Hubei Branch, shareholders of Green-Move ZF, and the executives from the key project partners VRB Energy and the China Number 11 Railway Construction Group.

Green Move ZF is jointly owned by the Hubei state power investment corporation known as Hubei Green-move New Energy Co. Ltd. (70-per-cent share interest), Hubei Pingfan Ruifeng New Energy Co. Ltd. (20-per-cent share interest) and Wuhan Fudi Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. (10-per-cent share interest).

The power station for the project is located in the automobile industrial park, of the Xiangyang high-tech development zone, and will occupy an area of about eight hectares. The station is expected to be officially commissioned for operation before the end of 2022.

Dr. Huang Mianyan, chief executive officer of VRB Energy, stated: "The opening ceremony marks the official construction stage of the 100 MWh all-vanadium flow battery energy storage project, which will accelerate the promotion of energy storage using vanadium flow battery energy systems in Hubei. The application of our new technology has laid a solid foundation for new business. VRB Energy has participated since 2019, in the construction of the first phase of the three MW plus three MW/12 MWh vanadium redox flow battery energy storage phase of the 10 MW solar and storage project in Hubei Zaoyang, and the project is working well. The operation has fully confirmed the huge application value and market prospects of VRB Energy's storage technology, and will promote the grid connection and on-site consumption of renewable energy. VRB Energy will fully co-operate and support the owner of the project with the highest standards of workmanship and implementation and operation of its energy storage systems and equipment, and will deliver this project as another successful example of vanadium flow battery energy storage applications in China."

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