An ancient salt formation beneath Queensland could become Australia’s largest clean energy reserve.
Deep beneath Queensland, Australia, scientists have uncovered a massive salt formation that formed long before the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Researchers now believe this ancient deposit could help the nation store enormous amounts of renewable energy and strengthen its transition away from fossil fuels.
A Discovery Millions of Years in the Making
Geologists identified the formation in the Adavale Basin, a vast and relatively underexplored region in southwest Queensland. The salt layer lies several kilometers underground, preserved beneath thick layers of sedimentary rock. Instead of mining the salt for industrial use, scientists want to transform it into something far more valuable — a giant underground energy storage system.
Energy experts plan to dissolve sections of the salt using water, which will create large sealed caverns underground. Engineers can then inject hydrogen or compressed air into these spaces, effectively turning them into natural batteries.
Turning Renewable Energy into Stored Power
Australia continues to expand its solar and wind capacity, but renewable energy production fluctuates with weather conditions. To solve this challenge, energy companies can use excess renewable electricity to produce green hydrogen. They can store this hydrogen deep inside salt caverns and later extract it to generate electricity when demand rises.
Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which typically store power for hours, salt caverns could store vast amounts of energy for days, weeks, or even seasons. This long-duration storage could stabilize the grid and reduce dependence on coal and gas-fired power plants.
What Happens Next?
Scientists from Geoscience Australia are currently studying the basin’s geology to confirm whether the salt deposit can safely and efficiently support large-scale storage. According to reporting by ABC News, ongoing drilling and analysis will determine the project’s commercial viability.
If the research proves successful, this prehistoric salt deposit could anchor one of the largest renewable energy storage systems in the country — turning a relic of Earth’s distant past into a foundation for Australia’s clean energy future.
