Energy transition to provide $68bn in economic benefits: Squadron Energy

Research commissioned by Squadron Energy concludes Australia’s transition to renewable energy will provide more than $68bn in benefits and generate 20,000 new jobs.

Australia’s transition to renewable energy will provide more than $68bn in benefits and generate 20,000 new jobs, research commissioned by Squadron Energy – one of the country’s largest zero-emission developers – has concluded.

The findings from the Regional Australia Institute will be seized on by proponents of the transition away from coal as evidence that Australia should accelerate the shift.

The findings will be presented by Squadron Energy chief executive Rob Wheals in a speech in Canberra on Thursday, in which he will argue the energy transition will be a major victory for regional Australia.

Transition provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity “to reconfigure the high levels of urbanisation we have in Australia, and I’d go so far as to say play an important role in addressing the so-called brain drain regional communities have experienced when young people pursue their careers in capital cities”, he will say.

Squadron Energy chief executive Rob Wheals.

The comments come as the renewable energy industry seeks to persuade regional Australia to support the transition.

Australia’s fleet of coal power stations are expected to have been retired by 2037, official forecasts from the country’s energy market operator shows. To replace the lost capacity, the federal government has set an aggressive target of having renewable energy provide 82 per cent of the country’s electricity by 2030.

The transition will decimate coal communities, but new renewable energy projects are set to uproot regional Australia. New wind and solar projects require significant land mass. But some communities oppose the developments or the high-voltage transmission lines needed to connect the new projects to the grid.

Seeking to win favour, state governments have steadily upped offers of financial compensation.

Mr Wheals said the new developments would provide a legacy, and he rejected suggestions that new jobs created would be fleeting.

“Let the facts speak for themselves,” he said.

“We need to build out 4½ times the current onshore wind generation capacity by 2050.

“That timeline shows the renewable energy transition will provide a sustained pipeline of economic output and job creation … country kids won’t need to become a FIFO worker in the Bowen Basin or Hunter Valley to chase a high-paying job and remain in the regions.”