The paper claims the state could build a battery industry based on existing up-stream capabilities and competitive advantages.

Queensland already has a small but growing battery presence through vanadium projects around Julia Creek and companies like Li-S Energy, which is developing a lithium sulphur battery.

The discussion paper claims that domestic battery demand would reach 90 gigawatt-hours by 2030 of which Queensland’s share would be 26 GWh. Global demand was expected to hit 2045GWh, about 11 times the current level.

Stationary storage, which included grid-scale wind and solar farms, was expected to increase 140 times the current level by 2030 and Queensland had natural advantages through its mining sector.

Acting Premier Steven Miles said battery storage would play a key role in the renewable energy transition.

“Demand for this technology was set to increase more than tenfold by 2030,” he said.

“The future of energy supply is going to look very different in the decades ahead and we want Queensland to be at the forefront of this revolution.”

The paper said cell manufacturing was critical to battery value chain and Queensland would need to further develop capabilities to establish a local battery industry.

“Electric vehicles imported by Queenslanders will contain 32GWh of EV battery storage between now and 2030. Without domestic manufacturing capabilities for passenger vehicles addressing this demand is challenging,” the paper said.

However, while it said there was no scope in Queensland in the medium term for an industry based on EV batteries, the national electricity market would need about 63 GWh of extra storage by 2030 and a “massive expansion” of the current 1GWh battery fleet.

Vanadium batteries were suited to this grid-style of battery and generally regarded as superior to lithium-ion batteries but were hampered by their weight. Queensland could benefit from this area because it has a world class vanadium deposit near Richmond in north west Queensland. QEM, Vecco, Richmond Vanadium, Critical Minerals Group and Mineral Resources were all active in this area.

“Queensland’s capabilities are predominantly in mining, refining and active materials. However, there are emerging capabilities in cell manufacturing and pack assembly.

“Mining raw materials also the largest industry profit margin, including both wages and business profits.

“There are currently 75 large resources projects in Queensland and over 350 operating mines in Australia. Electrification of mining haulers represent a potential market for mobile batteries with many miners looking to decarbonise.”

“Queensland should build out its capabilities in pack assembly as it is a relatively quick-to-production part of the value chain.”

It also claimed there was growing demand to pair rooftop solar with batteries. About 700,000 homes in Queensland have solar panels.