Margaret Lake Progresses Reliable and Affordable U.S. Energy Storage Company Evaluating New Lubrizol Electrolyte that Would Bring Reliability and Scale to Margaret Lake’s Vanadium Battery Solutions
Margaret Lake Progresses Reliable and Affordable U.S. Energy Storage
Company Evaluating New Lubrizol Electrolyte that Would Bring Reliability and Scale to Margaret
Lake’s Vanadium Battery Solutions
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA / May 28, 2020 / Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc.
(TSX.V: DIA / FKT: M85 / OTC: DDIAF) is pleased to announce as part of its efforts to
accelerate reliable energy storage through vanadium redox flow batteries (VFRB), the
company will soon begin testing a new vanadium electrolyte from The Lubrizol Corporation.
This electrolyte is essential in holding energy and electricity inside the battery, but it has
typically been available only through non-domestic sources, carrying significant transportation
costs, tariffs and time-intensive handling processes.
Margaret Lake’s VFRBs provide value for both utilities and commercial business. For utilities,
the batteries bring reliable energy storage, ensuring energy that is generated is captured and
not wasted, reducing the strain on the power grid by dispersing energy from renewable
sources. For businesses, the battery allows the capture of energy when it is more affordable or
available, enabling not only a sustainable power source but cost savings by supplementing
traditional energy sources.
Vanadium Electrolyte
The Vanadium electrolyte is core to the VFRB, and the unique physical characteristics of
vanadium are the primary reason behind the batteries’ high level of consistency and
performance, lack of degradation over time, and long life compared with lithium ion batteries.
The electrolyte makes up 35% of the cost of the VFRB for four hours of energy storage and
50% for eight hours of energy storage, making U.S.-based supply partners critical in enabling
affordable VFRBs for U.S. installations.
Battery Design
The Company’s proprietary Vanadium Flow Battery has been developed, tested and is patent-
protected. The flow battery design allows for limitation of storage only based on the capacity of
the electrolyte tanks versus the fixed capacity of lithium-ion. The battery is non-flammable and
non-explosive. There is no degradation as a result of cycling, partial charging, or time with a
100% depth of discharge and projected lifetime of 20 years. Battery efficiency is currently rated
at up to 80%. The battery is scalable into the MW-range through simple parallel connection of
multiple units. The systems are shipped in self-contained weatherproof and securely protected
housing. The systems can be managed and maintained by remote or online maintenance
through intelligent battery management. Temperature management and climate-controlled
containers eliminate weather impact on energy efficiency. The systems are designed for indoor
or containerized deployment in twenty- or forty-foot containers. The 40-foot design has a
capacity of 50kW output, 200kWh storage (Figure 1).
Figure 1 - 40Ft Container Format
Figure 2 – Cell Stack
Grid Scale Mass Storage
Designs have been completed for a 3.6MW output / 14.4kWh-28.8kWh energy storage system
to meet the growing demand for grid scale and renewables applications. There are a variety of
applications to support both renewables and existing infrastructure, as well as energy security.
Placing batteries at substations or near high-demand areas reduces need for new
infrastructure, such as transmission lines, substation capacity, and traditional power plants or
hydro dams. The power is often wasted in the night only for a lack of battery capacity. Grid
scale energy storage systems allow for charging at night during very low demand times (off
peak) and release that energy during the day during peak demand, reducing the need for new
transmission lines or power plants. This both increases overall efficiency and provides
backup/standby power for energy security and a robust and efficient energy infrastructure.
The same concept may be applied to time of day load shifting for renewables.
Factory
Margaret Lake is in commercial negotiations for a U.S. factory site in the North East. Factory
blueprint, process flow, equipment and personnel requirements have been completed for a
three-phase construction of a Vanadium Flow Battery Factory with an initial Phase I annual
output capacity of 50MW and 200MWh of storage. The factory is a joint venture between
Margaret Lake and KORID Energy of Korea; KORID is partially owned by DST Inc. (KOSDAQ:
033430) a factory automation and process equipment manufacturer serving the automobile,
food processing, mining and energy storage industries.
Remarks regarding the Joint Venture by Former Maine Secretary of Energy John Kerry and
former New York Governor George Pataki are available at https://youtu.be/KIre7TMNb5k .
Margaret Lake Diamonds
Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. (TSX.V: DIA) is a Canadian technology and mineral exploration
company focused on construction of Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Factory in the United
States and Vanadium Exploration Globally. The Company continues to maintain an interest in
the Diagras Diamond property located approximately 50km from the Diavik and Ekati Diamond
Mines in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
Contact Information
Jared Lazerson
President and CEO
Web: www.margaretlakediamonds.com
System Integrators Contact
Neil Foran
CFO
Neither the TSX Venture nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements
(collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws.
Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect",
"anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by
their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking
information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and
that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of
various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete
discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the
Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.