Western Australia to study wind manufacturing opportunities

The government of Western Australia will be assessing the feasibility of producing components for wind turbines in the state as part of a wider effort to push local manufacturing.

The feasibility study will examine the investment potential, market trends, supply opportunities for wind projects, and local industry participation opportunities. The McGowan Government pointed out that it is important for the state to support job creation in both metropolitan and regional areas with such projects, so this will be a key point in the study.

A special Local Industry Participation in Wind Farm Supply Action Group has been formed to provide advice and recommendations to the Western Australian government. The participants include BlueScope Distribution, the Australian Steel Institute, the Western Australian Regional Development Alliance, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and steel fabricators like Austal Ships, Civmec, Hofmann Engineering, Fremantle Steel and Pacific Industrial Company. They will focus areas such as:

- domestic and global market trends and supply chain issues;
- scope for development of manufacturing, installation and maintenance opportunities;
- potential barriers, including regulatory, or capacity and capability issues;
- the form and extent of local capacity and capability essential to meet manufacturing requirements;
- development of investment attraction strategies and/or content targets to strengthen capability and competitiveness;
- any appropriate facilitation and collaboration that could be provided by the government;

"The fact that full wind towers are being imported into the country has restricted job opportunities in manufacturing and fabricating by Western Australian businesses," said Premier Mark McGowan. "We have some talented, innovative and willing steel fabricators in Western Australia and we need to look at how we can maximise our expertise and build a pipeline of future job opportunities for Western Australians, just like we are doing with WA-made railcars."

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