IN THIS ISSUE

WELD AUSTRALIA CONTACTS

NATIONAL OFFICE PO Box 197, Macquarie Park BC NSW 1670 02 8748 0100 office@weldaustralia.com.au weldaustralia.com.au

Geoff Crittenden Chief Executive Officer 02 8748 0100 g.crittenden@weldaustralia.com.au

ENGINEERING

Victor Blain, Engineering Team Manager – South & West 0409 823 991 v.blain@weldaustralia.com.au

TRAINING

Guy Brooks, Training Manager 0488 743 322 g.brooks@weldaustralia.com.au

MARKETING

Michelle Bignold, National Manager, Sales & Marketing 0437 106 726 m.bignold@weldaustralia.com.au

MEMBERSHIP

David Choudry, Membership Manager 0417 878 104 d.choudry@weldaustralia.com.au

QUALIFICATION & CERTIFICATION

Deniz Yalniz, Qualification and Certification Team Manager 0487 487 170 d.yalniz@weldaustralia.com.au

NEW SOUTH WALES

Arya Sharifian, Welding Engineer 0419 414 901 a.sharifian@weldaustralia.com.au

VICTORIA, TASMANIA & SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Victor Blain, Engineering Team Manager – South & West 0409 823 991 v.blain@weldaustralia.com.au

QUEENSLAND & NORTHERN TERRITORY

Ross O’Bryan, Engineering Team Manager - East 0491 491 888 r.obryan@weldaustralia.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Mehdi Tajfar, Senior Welding Engineer 0417 044 370 m.tajfar@weldaustralia.com.au

Welcome to the March 2023 edition of Weld Connect

The Australian Government has legislated emissions reductions targets of 43% by 2030 (on 2005 levels) and net zero by 2050. These targets are enshrined in law in the Climate Change Act 2022

These targets will play a key role in limiting global temperature increases and ensuring Australia’s transition to a low carbon future consistent with our commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Importantly, these targets will necessitate the construction of new infrastructure on a massive scale. Australia’s existing renewable energy generation of 64GW is forecast to grow to over 218GW by 2050. This will comprise 90GW of wind, 35.3GW 39GW of solar, 18.7GW of water, and 35.9GW of battery storage. According to the Clean Energy

Council, there are currently 106 renewable energy generation projects that are either under construction or due to start construction soon around Australia.

For example, it is expected that over 11,000 wind towers will need to be produced, each requiring 500 tonnes of steel (onshore) or 750 tonnes (offshore). The annual production of steel in Australia is currently 260kt.

According to Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) 2022 Integrated System Plan, demand for steel from the electricity sector (NEM-wide) is likely to increase by approximately 50% from 2021 to 2027. These demands equate to 8% of Australia’s annual crude steel production, most of which is needed for wind turbine towers.

To connect all this new generation to consumers, AEMO found that more than 10,000km of new transmission lines and 20,000 transition towers (at 20 tonnes of steel per tower) will need to be constructed around the country.

To support this, the Government established the Rewiring the Nation project in the 2022-2023 Budget as part of the Powering Australia plan, with $20 billion in low-cost finance to expand and modernise Australia’s electricity grids at lowest cost.

However, while funding has been made available for the infrastructure itself, little consideration has been given to the skilled workforce that will be required. The only initiative announced so far is the New Energy Apprenticeships program.

The Federal Government has committed to spending over $95 million to support 10,000 new apprenticeships under the New Energy Apprenticeships program, and another $1 billion on a 12-month

As the peak body representing the welding industry, Weld Australia is committed to supporting our members and the wider welding industry. It’s important then that we understand both the state of the industry itself, and how we can better serve your needs.

The best way for us to gain this understand is via our 2023 Member Survey.

We know your time is valuable, and appreciate you sparing some to help us. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. Results will remain anonymous.

Skills Agreement that promises to deliver 180,000 FeeFree TAFE places to priority groups in 2023.

The Federal Government recently added an extra 39 occupations to the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List. The list has grown to encompass 111 occupations, as Australia continues to struggle with skills shortages across a range of different sectors—particularly welding and fabrication. Several occupations related to welding and fabrication were added to the Priority List, including Welder, Pressure Welder, Fitter, Metal Fabricator, Metal Machinist, Metal Casting Trades Worker, Sheetmetal Trades Worker, and Blacksmith. In fact, 11% of the occupations included in the Priority List are now related to welding.

Occupations on the Priority List are eligible for financial support through the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System. A wage subsidy of 10% is provided to businesses in the first and second year, and then it drops to 5% in the third year. Up to $5,000 in direct payments is made to apprentices across two years.

While these initiatives will provide welcome financial incentives for both employers and their apprentices, this is just one small piece of the puzzle. These initiatives alone will not solve the skills crisis.

A Veritable Army Of Skilled Workers

All this the renewable energy infrastructure will require a veritable army of skilled workers, including welders.

Australia’s renewable energy industry will need a raft of additional resources to deliver on these ambitious projects, including: manufacturing and fabrication capacity, raw materials (particularly steel), and contracting and contractor resources. Plus, new technologies will need to be developed and deployed.

The renewable energy industry will require huge volumes of fabrication in the coming years. While this represents enormous opportunities for Weld Australia members, there are also enormous challenges ahead.

While our governments can wish, and hope, and make public pledges about Australia’s transition to renewable energy, we simply do not have the sovereign manufacturing capability to make this a reality.

The Federal Government and state governments can wish their renewable energy policies into existence, but without a massive investment in fabrication and steelmaking facilities, and skills and training in each state, it will not be achievable.

The Federal Government needs to commit to, and encourage the development of, a sovereign manufacturing capability. The Federal Government must legislate local content policy. This will create a capacity mechanism that generates a clear, long-term signal for investment by private equity and local manufacturers. The Federal Government must also mandate that all wind towers are constructed, erected and inspected according to Australian Standards.

National Manufacturing Summit

Given the sheer volume of challenges and opportunities on the horizon in the renewable energy industry, Weld Australia, in conjunction with the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, will host the National Manufacturing Summit at Parliament in August.

With the theme of Renewable Energy: Challenges and Opportunities, the aim of the Summit is to leverage the opportunities currently available in the manufacturing sector, and translate these into action.

The Summit will gather industry leading representatives from all the major stakeholders in Australia’s manufacturing sector—business, unions, universities, the financial sector, suppliers, and government—to discuss the sector’s prospects, and identify promising, pragmatic policy measures designed to support an industrial turnaround. Government Ministers and international experts will delve into the challenges and opportunities of the renewable energy revolution.

Stay tuned for further information, including registration.

Renewable Energy Infrastructure Group

Weld Australia is also proposing to establish a Renewable Energy Industry Group. It will bring together existing generators, new players, manufacturers, suppliers, specialists and consultants to:

• Share knowledge experience, and learnings

• Discuss and workshop renewable energy issues

• Network and collaborate with like-minded industry colleagues

Weld Australia will facilitate meetings on behalf of members of the Renewable Energy Industry Group. Meetings may be face to face, online or a combination of both. The Group members will determine the frequency and structure of meetings, agenda items, and strategic direction of the Group.

Interested in joining? To register your interest, please contact Andrew Davies (Manager Technical Industry Networks, Weld Australia) on 0438 428 966 or a.davies@weldaustralia.com.au

Geoff Crittenden CEO, Weld Australia

Vale Paolo Corronca

It is with great sadness that Weld Australia informs its members that our great friend and colleague, Paolo Corronca has passed away.

Paolo joined Weld Australia (then the WTIA) from Italy, in 2014. Paolo had recently arrived in Australia from Italy with a Masters Degree in Engineering and a newly minted International Welding Engineer (IWE) qualification.

Prior to joining Weld Australia, Paolo had been a Mechanical Engineer at Remosa SpA in Italy—a manufacturer of valves and actuating systems for the oil and gas market. In this role, Paolo had managed over 100 international projects and supervised over 40 turnarounds and shut-downs.

Paolo was quickly promoted into the role of Manager for Industry Networks, in which he was responsible for the Power Generation, Defence and Infrastructure Groups. After 18 months in that role, he expressed an interest to join the Engineering team.

In this role, Paolo relocated to Adelaide for a time, taking on the position of South Australian State Manager. He did very well in Adelaide, and passed an MBA with a high distinction while he was there.

On Paolo’s return to New South Wales, he was promoted again to become the head of Weld Australia’s Qualification and Certification team. This was a role in which Paolo excelled.

He played a key role in growing AS/NZS ISO 3834 Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials, EN 15085 Railway applications — welding of railway vehicles and components, and AS/NZS ISO 9606-1 Qualification test of welders — Fusion welding in Australia.

For the last two years, Paolo was Weld Australia’s National Manager, Engineering. He oversaw all our engineering services, as well as our qualification and certification capabilities.

Paolo had a tremendously positive attitude towards life. His sense of humour and enthusiasm infected not only the entire company, but everyone who came into contact with him. His generosity made him popular with members and staff alike.

As Geoff Crittenden (CEO, Weld Australia) said, “Every week, Paolo would come to me with a new idea or initiative that he wanted permission to implement. After about the fourth or fifth time, I told him just to go for it, and let me know if it had worked—inevitably, it always did. Paolo’s hard work and dedication made sure it did.”

“It is hard to think that is less than a year since Paolo was filling all our lives with the joy of his irrepressible good humour and dreams of yet another vintage Vespa. I know that the last thing he would have wanted is for any tears to be shed over his passing, although I know many will be, so let’s all be thankful for having known him.”

The IIW recently approved Weld Australia’s request to create the Paolo Corronca Scholarship. This will fund an Italian welding engineer to work in Australia on an exchange program.

Paolo was highly respected by the Weld Australia team, our members and the broader Australian welding industry. He was an absolute pleasure to work with. An all together lovely person, Paolo will be sadly missed.

On behalf of the Weld Australia team, Board and all our members, our condolences go to Paolo’s family and friends. Vale Paolo.