Renewables superhighway set to unleash thousands of jobs in Victoria and NSW

A renewables superhighway backed by the Victorian and federal governments this week will create thousands of new direct and indirect jobs, according to Beyond Zero Emissions.

The new VNI West project is projected to create 2,000 direct jobs during construction and will be underwritten by the Andrews and Morrison governments in a recently announced $200 million deal. It was one of 15 priority projects unlocking private sector investment in a low-carbon economy identified by Beyond Zero Emissions in a pre-budget submission to Treasury.

Federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said in a statement the VNI West project will create jobs and “play a crucial role in ensuring Victorians have access to the affordable and reliable electricity they need to power their lives”.

In June, Beyond Zero Emissions released the Million Jobs Plan and showed that Australia needed serious investment into its level of transmission if the country wanted to fulfil its potential as a renewable energy superpower and create thousands of new jobs.

Research Lead of Beyond Zero Emissions Michael Lord said, “The Million Jobs Plan shows expanding Australia’s electricity transmission network alone will create 29,000 jobs over the next five years.

“But more importantly, new transmission infrastructure will unlock billions of private investment in renewable energy and create many more downstream jobs particularly in struggling regional Australia.

“Altogether an accelerated deployment of 90 gigawatts of renewable energy in the next five years will create 124,000 jobs in construction and 22,000 ongoing jobs.”

Lord encouraged Australia’s governments to continue to throw their support behind expanding Australia’s electricity transmission network. “We need to build new transmission quickly, side-stepping the usual regulatory hurdles that delay projects for years.

“Governments can facilitate this by taking a stronger role in transmission planning and continuing to fund new transmission lines connected to the National Electricity Markets.”