Queensland is leading source of renewable energy jobs, report says

Queensland has emerged for the first time as the nation’s leading source of renewable energy jobs, according to figures suggesting the Palaszczuk government’s policy push away from coal-fired power has gained momentum.

The state had almost 6,500 people working in renewables in August, ending New South Wales’ long-standing dominance of employment in the burgeoning sector, the latest Australian Renewable Energy Index shows.

This reflected a boom in large-scale solar- and wind-generation projects under construction in Queensland, which the index found generated 5,203 “job years” alongside 1,287 full-time jobs in solar rooftop installation.

The figures come a day after the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, challenged Malcolm Turnbull to take her lead on delivering “investment certainty” through a clean energy target.

“I can tell you – and Malcolm Turnbull if he’s looking for some advice - the industry has responded to my government’s clear energy policy direction,” Palaszczuk said in a “state of the state” speech in Brisbane, amid speculation of a looming election announcement.

On Tuesday Turnbull flagged federal funding for a new coal-fired power station in north Queensland if the Liberal National party won the election.

Palaszczuk told a Committee of Economic Development Australia function that her government’s target of 50% renewable energy by 2030 had triggered a “$5bn pipeline of private investment” in projects.

Seemingly using more conservative employment projections than Green Energy, Palaszczuk said these projects would “support 3,200 jobs”.

They would also generate “5,000MW of clean energy”, which was “more than twice the theoretical capacity of the ageing and much-debated Liddell power station” in NSW, Palaszczuk said.

The monthly renewable energy index – released for the first time last month by Green Energy Markets with funding by GetUp – found the share of national power generation from renewables across Australia rose again last month to 19.5%, up from 17.2% in 2016-17 and just 7% a decade ago.

Solar rooftop systems installed in August alone would save households $180m over the next decade, it found.

Queensland, which already had Australia’s largest number of rooftop solar systems and the bulk of its solar projects, overtook NSW by 1,772 renewables jobs last month, according to the index.

Projects committed to construction in August included Australia’s largest wind farm, the 453MW Cooper’s Gap project near Kingaroy. Another three projects shifted to production.

Palaszcuk said in two-and-a-half years under her government, large-scale solar power had gone from “zero generation to projects with a capacity in excess of 1,000MW”.

Her government was also in talks to attract local production of battery technology that was the sector’s “greatest new frontier”, given the intermittent generation of renewables.

“My vision for Queensland is not simply as a beneficiary of this technology, but as a builder of it,” she said.

However, Palaszczuk acknowledged Queensland’s reliance on “Australia’s youngest and most efficient fleet of coal-fired generators” for being the only state to avoid predicted power shortfalls.

She also blamed power price rises on other states “failing to develop their gas basins” and privatising their power assets, amid “outdated and unfair” national electricity market rules.

GetUp Queensland campaigner Ellen Roberts said the state was belatedly realising its clean energy potential, with 38 projects under development and another 40 looking to link to the grid.

These would eventually add 15 gigawatts of capacity, “more than Queensland’s entire fossil fuel power plant capacity” of 12 gigawatts, Roberts said.

“With our solar advantage, we should be able to beat NSW on renewables as often as we beat them in the State of Origin,” she said.

“But we’ll need to see more renewable energy action from the Queensland government if we want to hang onto the winners’ shield.”

Championing clean energy projects to the Naif (Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility), which Turnbull had earmarked for funding a new coal station, “would be a great start”, Roberts said.