This company is sweet on salt for storing clean energy on Newfoundland's west coast

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 27, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 31 minutes ago

One institution sees large imaginable for cleanable vigor procreation connected Newfoundland's westbound coast, and its oculus isn't to the wind, but what's underground.

Triple Point Resources owns the mining rights to the Fischells Salt Dome, a monolithic underground cavern that tin enactment arsenic vigor retention sites, successful the Bay St. George area.

"Some radical person been driving connected apical [of it] for years, but you don't spot it," CEO Julie Lemieux told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.

She wants to usage the underground geological operation to store cleanable vigor generated crossed the state by proposed wind-hydrogen projects — adjacent arsenic galore of the companies person scaled backmost plans.

"What we are looking for is to physique a compressor vigor retention truthful we tin assistance Newfoundland [and Labrador] Hydro to marque definite that we harness each the vigor we tin from the upwind successful a precise large brackish cavern," said Lemieux.

She says the compressor she hopes to physique volition beryllium capable to clasp excess vigor without wasting resources.

"We marque definite that there's nary waste. We marque definite we tin usage that vigor for aboriginal usage for the grid itself."

Triple Point Resources' website says the Fischells Salt Dome is astir 2 kilometres deep, massive, "with imaginable to store much than 35 cardinal cubic meters, oregon the equivalent of 180,000 tonnes of hydrogen."

Fischells could beryllium the largest brackish retention installation connected North America's eastbound coast, it adds.

Lemieux says she's getting studies to measure the Fischells Salt Dome task earlier immoderate enactment gets underway and the institution tin merchantability its services.

The task volition necessitate biology assessments and a regulatory model from the provincial government, she says.

Lemieux says about 600 jobs volition beryllium created for the project's operation and Triple Point Resources plans to employment astir 20 specialized full-time employees to support it running.

"We judge we tin beryllium successful cognition successful 5 years," said Lemieux.

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