Employment, Skills and Supply Chains: Renewable Energy in NSW

An energy worker in yellow hi-vis gear stands at the base of a wind turbine. He is looking up at another worker who is on scaffolding.

A pace change in the electricity sector makes it hard to predict what employment will be like in the future of renewable energy supply.

The NSW Renewable Energy Sector Board (RESB) commissioned ISF to assess the employment and industry development opportunities under the establishment of REZ.

ISF's report provides advice to the RESB, as an input to its plan for renewable energy to the Minister for Energy and Environment.

The study:

mapped renewable energy supply chains
undertook a ‘baseline and opportunity’ evaluation of the capacity of regional areas to increase local employment and industry development from hosting the new REZ
evaluated a range of opportunities for increased employment and local development such as manufacturing wind towers, training regional engineers and wind technicians developing a national workforce for transmission construction and battery storage supply chain, circular economy opportunities such as PV recycling hubs
developed recommendations on new policy initiatives including procurement and local content, skills and training, strategic planning and infrastructure and economic development.

The research looks at cost-effective ways to maximise development and employment in the electricity sector as REZs are established in NSW.

This research has informed the NSW Renewable Energy Sector Board plan, which was endorsed and published by the NSW Government in September 2022. The plan includes a large number of recommendations and actions from ISF's research report. In response to our recommendations, the NSW Government agreed to establish a $250m fund for renewable energy manufacturing and develop a NSW renewables training strategy.

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Employment, Skills and Supply Chains: Renewable Energy in NSW (2022) (Report)

NSW Renewable Energy Sector Board Plan (2022) (PDF)