Protean goes all-in on vanadium; hands over wave energy business
Date: Aug 29, 2018
Battery maker Protean Energy is now solely focused on vanadium after selling its wave energy business.
The conversion of ocean waves into energy was an early focus for Protean under plans to build as many as 30 wave energy devices off the coast of Western Australia.
But the area had taken a back seat in recent years as Protean’s vanadium mining and battery-making business took off.
Now, Protean has struck a deal to transfer the Wave Energy Converter business to Perth-based investor Pearl Clean Energy.
Pearl Clean Energy is an Australian clean energy play that finds and develops medium-to-large scale renewable energy projects throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Pearl Clean will pay Protean a 1.5 per cent revenue royalty for ten years and has agreed to spend at least $700,000 developing the business over the next five years.
It’s a great outcome for shareholders, given the Wave Energy asset was not generating revenue while Protean pursued the red-hot vanadium market.
“We’re pleased to be able to extract value from an asset that is no longer our core focus,” said Protean chairman Bevan Tarratt.
