The Western Australian Electricity Workforce: Projections to 2050

Chief Investigators

Jay Rutovitz (UTS)

Rusty Langdon (UTS)

Purpose of project

To meet the Western Australian Government’s net zero target and projected renewable energy consumption by 2050 will require a large and skilled workforce. Workforce planning for the construction, operation and maintenance of new renewable energy generation and storage, and construction of new transmission assets will be essential to meet this workforce demand. With a large amount of the new energy infrastructure located in remote and regional areas, recruitment of sufficient workers could be challenging.

A significant proportion of Western Australia’s electricity generation is produced through either off-grid or very remote sources. The rapid increase in renewables combined with the geographical distances means an understanding of workforce demand across the state is needed to meet the needs of residential and industrial energy users. This project modelled workforce requirements in four regions to understand when and where workers will be needed over the next 20 years. The modelled regions are:

1. SWIS: South West Interconnected System
2. Central Pilbara
3. Horizon Towns
4. Off grid

The outcomes of the research will be instrumental for electricity sector workforce planning, providing projections for the renewable energy workforce broken down by occupation, technology, and location, for both a high and a low electricity demand scenario. 

Impact of project

This project supports the Western Australian government to quantify the size of the workforce needed to meet the employment requirements for the transition to renewables in the state. Workforce planning plays an important role in helping government and training providers to coordinate their approach to filling current and anticipated skills shortages to meet energy transition and net zero targets. Without workforce planning there is a risk that skills shortages will result in project delays, with consequent challenges for energy affordability and reliability.

Understanding the workforce requirements over the next 20 years will help government take a whole of economy approach to workforce planning and development. It will also help to manage risks around workforce competition across sectors, smooth out the “boom and bust” nature of construction employment and ensure that there is enough personnel to deliver on projects. These actions can increase job security for the energy sector workers.

Project partners – industry and research

University of Technology Sydney, Department of Training and Workforce Development