Australia's green energy roadmap - What it means to Engineers?

On June 26, 2024, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released a 25-year roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050. This roadmap represents a significant shift in how we generate and consume energy. While renewable energy generation is set to soar by 600%, these sources will need support from other sources during low wind and solar generation periods. Pumped hydro storage and chemical batteries are projected to cover most of this gap by the end of next decade. In the meantime, there will be instances where this is insufficient as storage capacity scales up (currently at 3GW and needing to grow 16-fold).

This means some investment and development of gas-powered generation is still required in the next 25 years as a bridge solution while we build pumped hydro (for long storage) and batteries (for short storage). The increased capacity does not equate to increased gas-fired generation. Grid reliability is the primary reason for gas-powered generation in Australia’s energy transition phase. A typical gas generator may generate just 5% of its potential but will be critical when it runs, to avoid blackouts.?During the same time, coal-based generation is targeted to be completely phased out.

The Integrated System Plan (ISP) report suggests that to bring all the new renewable energy sources to the network, almost 10,000km of new transmission lines are required by 2050. The total power grid would need to triple in size. This includes committed projects like Project EnergyConnect in NSW-SA-VIC & CopperString 2032 in QLD. Powerlink has already awarded an early works package with CIMIC Group companies (UGL and CPB Contractors) for CopperString 2032.

Engineers are at the forefront of delivering the four pillars of the energy transition. They are responsible for designing, constructing, and maintaining the following:

• Renewable energy generation
• Short-term and long-term energy storage
• Gas generation for backup (bridging the gap)
• Energy transmission and distribution

This signifies the importance of conscious efforts required to develop a capable workforce for each pillar to support AEMO’s roadmap. Jobs and Skills Australia’s report suggests a workforce transformation that is substantial but not unprecedented and compares with the post-war transformation of the late twentieth century.

Some engineers are already translating their extensive experience into roles in clean energy fields such as renewables. However, some roles in the electricity industry require many years of experience. Transferability between these roles is low, and shortages are high.

Regional areas of Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains already have large concentrations of clean energy employment, reflecting hydroelectricity projects (Battery of the Nation and SNOWY 2.0).

The significant investment in renewable energy capacity will likely result in strong job growth in wind, solar, and hydroelectricity over the next decade. These sectors would add around 70,000 by 2050. Construction is likely to grow because energy supply industries rely on a strong construction pipeline, and one-third of all jobs will likely be in the construction industry. However, the modelling indicates that construction growth will likely slow in the following decades. The following table indicates an average annual change in employment by occupation for this decade. There is going to a growth in demand for workers and professionals with skills in electrical and civil engineering.

The Jobs and Skills Australia report also documents that remuneration in clean energy lags behind that in non-clean energy. This may be skewed by the mining sector, which typically provides some of the highest remuneration in the labour market. Leveraging the environmental benefits of clean energy and offering competitive salaries will be key to attracting and retaining domestic and international engineering talent. Engineers Australia has been advocating and working on the required regulatory frameworks for net-zero ambitions.

This is Part 1 of a 10-part literature review extract from my paper titled "Risk Management for Underground Pumped Hydro Development" The paper is prepared for presentation at the World Tunnelling Congress 2025 in Stockholm, Sweden. Future posts will focus on long-term energy storage projects and aspects of Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) planning, execution, and operation. Part 2 will be published in a fortnight.