According to a new report, the U.S. Department of Energy gave China the rights to a green battery that could power an entire house for a long time.
The vanadium redox flow battery was manufactured by a company in Washington state called UniEnergy Technologies until last year when a DOE license transfer sealed its fate to a Chinese company.
In partnership with the Northwest News Network, NPR revealed the truth. The DOE did not follow its own licensing policies.
The chief financial officer of a U.S. company that has been trying to get a license said that the technology was made from taxpayer dollars. The invention was done in a national lab. It is held in China and deployed there. It's frustrating.
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Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory thought that a special mix of acid and electrolytes could hold a lot of sustainable energy. Over fifteen million taxpayer dollars were spent to perfect the battery after they proved their suspicions.
The leader of the project applied for a license to manufacture and sell the battery at the Department of Energy. The license was issued by the agency and the person started UniEnergy.
It was hard to convince U.S. investors to join his venture. He scored an investment in the company after being connected by a fellow scientist to it.
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There was a gradual shift in manufacturing from the UniEnergy warehouse to the Rongke Power plant. The Chinese company was able to make its own batteries after being granted an official sublicense.
The license required UniEnergy to make batteries in America and sell them in the U.S. He did not face any issues despite admitting to failing to meet the requirements. UniEnergy was told that they would have to work there for months because the battery industry had improved so much.
He decided to transfer the license to Vanadis Power in order to keep making batteries in China.
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The license transfer caused cracks in the DOE. The license was transferred within an hour and a half after a UniEnergy official contacted a government manager at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Whether the manager or anyone else at the lab thought to check during that hour and a half or thereafter whether Vanadis Power was an American company or whether it intended to manufacture in the U.S. is unclear. The batteries were supposed to be made in China.
The DOE didn't have enough resources to monitor its licenses, according to the GAO. The agency used outdated computer systems and had inconsistent policies.
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UniEnergy's non-compliance was raised by a Washington state-based energy company. The world's top manufacturer of vanadium redox flow batteries is Rongke Power.
One of UniEnergy's engineers told NPR that it was beyond promise. We were expecting it to work as it was supposed to.
Li-ion batteries, which power electric vehicles, are powered by China. The research shows that Chinese companies run 80% of global battery raw material processing.
The Chinese government supports Chinese companies. It also has ties with countries that are involved in the mining of the precious metal.
The policies allowed them to build the foundations of an electric vehicle supply chain, according to a China-based analyst. They are turning that position into a global power.
The U.S Department of Energy has a featured image.
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