Renewable Energy: Challenges and Opportunities
The Australian Government has legislated emissions reductions targets of 43% (on 2005 levels) by 2030 and net zero by 2050. These targets are enshrined in law in the Climate Change Act 2022. Importantly, these targets will necessitate the construction of new infrastructure on a massive scale. Australia’s existing renewable energy generation of 64GW is forecast to grow to over 218GW by 2050. This will comprise 90GW of wind, 39GW of solar, 18.7GW of water, and 35.9GW of battery storage.For example, it is expected that over 11,000 wind towers will need to be produced, each requiring 500 tonnes of plate steel (for onshore wind towers) or 750 tonnes (for offshore wind towers). The annual production of plate steel in Australia is currently 400kt. To connect all this new generation to consumers, AEMO estimates that more than 10,000km of new transmission lines and 25,000 transmission towers (at 30 to 60 tonnes of steel per tower) will need to be constructed around the country. While funding has been made available for the infrastructure itself, little consideration has been given to the skilled workforce that will be required. The Federal Government recently added an extra 39 occupations to the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List. The list has grown to encompass 111 occupations, as Australia continues to struggle with skills shortages across a range of different sectors—particularly welding and fabrication. Several occupations related to welding and fabrication were added to the Priority List, including
Welder,
Pressure Welder,
Fitter,
Metal Fabricator,
Metal Machinist,
Sheetmetal Trades Worker,
and Blacksmith.
In fact, 11% of the occupations included in the Priority List are now related to welding.

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