Renewable jobs bonanza is blowing in the wind

Weekend Australian
Saturday 20/6/2009 Page: 7

SIX thousand jobs, many of them highly skilled, are nothing to dismiss lightly in these difficult times. On present projections, that is the number of people who will find work in the windfarm industry by 2011: project managers, noise engineers, meteorologists, crane and earthmoving equipment drivers.

Although 6000 doesn't sound a big number, it dwarfs the 4200 estimated figure for employment in coal-fired power generation in Australia; the coalmining industry employs 26,000 people, but most of that work is export-oriented. There are some shortages already being felt in the wind energy business, noise consultants being one.

In fact, there are those who say that, if not for the downturn in the resources sector, the renewable energy industry would be hard pressed to fill its employment ranks. The growth of renewables and its expected surge in the next five years to some extent will mask the job losses for skilled workers elsewhere in the economy.

Wind, along with other renewable energies, is poised for another great leap forward once the federal government introduces its renewable energy target legislation, a bill that will ratify the already announced target of lifting renewable generation from the present 15,000 GW hours to 45,000GWh. Wind energy promoters are poised to act once the legislation is passed.

This month the NSW government approved construction of the 598-turbine windfarm at Silverton, near Broken Hill, a project that will add 1000 MWs to the state's renewable energy capacity. It will cost $2.2 billion to complete and generate about 700 jobs during the construction phase and 120 positions when in operation. There are other proposals in the pipeline.

The listed Sydney-based company CBD Energy, which is raising $5.4 million in capital, has just received its licence to erect a 50MW windfarm at Shannons Flat, between Canberra and Cooma. CBD, which is chaired by former federal Nationals leader Mark Vaile, is also planning a windfarm for the remote Chatham Islands, the easternmost settlement in New Zealand.

Environmental consultant Jay Rutovitz, a co-author of Environment Victoria's recent report Victoria: The Green Jobs State, says wind has been hampered in Australia because of the cheapness of coal. But this is changing. A bigger impediment to investment in renewables, in her view, is the stop-start nature of government policy.

Wind power installations have a payback period of 15 years, Canberra's targets are for 2020 but the certification period for schemes expires in 2030. That means, to get the full 15 years, all the investment will have to be in place by 2015. What happens then is anybody's guess, but the likelihood is new projects will disappear and employment numbers will decline unless there are further policy interventions.

But there has been progress. The Environment Victoria report shows wind capacity across Australia has risen from 100MW in 2000 to 1300MW by the end of 2008; the past five years have seen a 47% annual growth rate.

A wide variety of jobs is created when you set out to build a windfarm. At the development stage, the skills needed are those of engineers, economists, environmental experts, meteorologists to calculate wind patterns and those people who deal with the almost inevitable objections. Then you need the people to make the equipment.

Rutovitz says another drawback of the boom-bust approach to wind is you don't get people investing in local manufacturing. The closure of the Vestas blade factories in Tasmania and Portland, Victoria, in 2006 and 2007 brought homes this lesson.

The only large-scale manufacturer left is Keppel Prince at Portland, a company that makes the towers that hold the blades and turbines. But even that level of activity provides jobs for mechanical engineers, painters, fitters, crane drivers and riggers. The company has made it clear it would expand into making other components but will not invest all the capital needed while the boom-bust approach continues.

Europe, by contrast, has adopted policies that promote continuous growth of renewable schemes. As at 2005, the sector employed 1.4 million people in the European Union. The EU wants to add a further 410,000 jobs by 2020.

Rutovitz sees severe skills shortages in renewable sectors other than wind. For example, there are not going to be sufficient people to assess all the houses that will need to have their energy efficiency upgraded or enough tradespeople electricians and plumbers particularly to do the work.