Australia, there’s a green energy revolution blowing our way.
And from construction to operation it’s generating massive growth areas for careers. One of the most eye-catching of all of these are the giant wind farms cropping up along Australia’s coast.
BlueFloat Energy is just one of several new companies already lining up a workforce to help build, operate and maintain massive offshore wind farms around the country, in its case in the Gippsland region of Victoria.
While construction isn’t set to start for another five years, BlueFloat Energy’s country manager Nick Sankey is already working on recruiting for the $10 billion development.
“From a job-creation perspective and from a social perspective, the benefits of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables is a huge opportunity,” Sankey told the Australian Financial Review.
“We are not the only project that’s planning to go ahead. This is a really unique time in Australia’s development where we have all this knowledge-generation infrastructure that needs to be replaced.”
Part of this recruitment involves working with universities and TAFEs to co-create training programs in the fields of business, engineering, maritime operations, conservation, and health and safety.
But as Sankey explained, many of the trades and skills BlueFloat Energy’s four massive planned developments along the east and south coast of Australia require already exist.
However, there’s a catch.
“There will need to be quite a bit of specialised training that goes on top of that,” Sankey told the AFR.
“For instance, welding is one of the major trades used in the construction of towers and foundations. And while there are welders available, they will need new capabilities to work on the more technical aspects of what we require.”
With 2000 to 3000 workers needed during the construction phase in Gippsland alone up for grabs, it’s a wind-win for tradies and the environment.
