As Queensland prepares for energy transition, engineering and advisory firm Beca is looking to bring lessons from major renewables projects in other jurisdictions to bear.
With decades of experience at the front line of transmission design, stakeholder management, and decarbonisation, Beca says that a coordinated, pragmatic approach is critical if Queensland is to avoid the potential delays and stakeholder challenges that have been seen in projects down south.
With a wave of Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) development in the pipeline, timing is everything.
“Queensland has a big opportunity to get this right early,” says Rex Inger, Business Director for Transmission at Beca.
“What we’ve seen in Victoria and NSW is that when projects aren’t coordinated and when you’ve got different players engaging with communities and stakeholders in inconsistent ways, it leads to misaligned expectations and ultimately delays. The centralised role of Powerlink in Queensland could really help avoid that.”
A tighter grip on transmission
Much of Beca’s recent work in the energy transition arena has been underpinned by its partnerships with Transgrid and EnergyCo in NSW. The Hunter Transmission Project (HTP), Project EnergyConnect, and the Victoria–NSW Interconnector (VNI) have all brought valuable insights into the technical, planning and stakeholder challenges facing large-scale grid upgrades and expansions.
“In the Hunter project, we helped identify a transmission corridor that ran mostly through crown land and mining leases,” says Harshal Patel, Beca’s Business Director for Renewables.
“About 80 to 85 per cent of the route avoided private landowners, which reduced the social impact and streamlined approvals. That kind of strategic land use planning is something we think Queensland could really benefit from.”
This lesson is rooted not just in design pragmatism but in political realism. Projects like HTP also had to adapt to community feedback mid-design, with routes adjusted to account for biodiversity, visual impacts, and agricultural activity. While Beca did not lead stakeholder engagement directly, Patel says their technical inputs shaped the options that were ultimately put forward for consultation.
Community engagement: A make-or-break factor
According to Inger, inconsistent community engagement has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks for transmission rollout in NSW and Victoria.
“You had separate projects being managed in isolation, with different engagement approaches and compensation models. That created tension and confusion,” he says.
“Now with VicGrid and EnergyCo taking on a centralised coordinating role, that’s helped to bring more consistency.”
Queensland, with Powerlink performing the function of the REZ delivery body as well as being the sole transmission operator, is well-placed to avoid fragmented engagement.
The state’s fast-track investment scheme – the Priority Transmission Investment Framework – streamlines planning, but may limit community stakeholder input.
“It’s efficient, sure, but there’s a risk there,” says Patel.
“Projects in NSW and Victoria have been burned by not getting early buy-in from communities. Queensland needs to strike the right balance – use the streamlined process, but not at the expense of proper engagement.”
From brownfields to bush
Beyond politics, Queensland presents an engineering challenge. The state’s vast, rugged geography brings an added layer of complexity to transmission design. Yet, Beca says advances in GIS (geographic information systems) and modelling technology are helping teams weigh up hundreds of route scenarios in a fraction of the time.
“We overlay terrain, flood risk, biodiversity, stakeholder interests, and more,” says Inger.
“These tools can produce heat maps that help identify optimal corridors. You can balance technical constraints with social and environmental factors then ground truth these before putting a single peg in the ground.”
He notes that the relative remoteness of some proposed Queensland projects could even work in their favour, reducing the number of impacted landowners and simplifying route selection.
Smart planning, smart tech
Technology also has a role to play in extracting more from existing infrastructure. In the VNI project, Beca helped implement SmartWire technology – equipment that redirects electricity flows in real time, unlocking grid capacity without new lines.
“It allowed us to defer major investments by balancing power flow more effectively,” says Patel.
“In Queensland, though, the transmission buildout is mostly greenfield, so SmartWires may have limited use. But there’s scope to look at uprating or repurposing existing lines where possible – like we did with the QNI [Queensland-New South Wales Interconnector] upgrade.”
Patel also points to practices in New Zealand, where transmission upgrades are often prioritised over new builds.
“They do a lot of tower upgrades, reconductoring and thermal uprating,” he says.
“It’s a cost-effective way to get more capacity out of the same footprint. We think Australia, Queensland included, could do more of that.”
Construction readiness and smart supply
Beca is also advocating for earlier engagement with delivery partners to smooth the path to construction. In their NSW and Victoria experience, there is a real industry challenge in providing flexibility around the uncertainty in major project timelines.
“Contractors and industry delivery partners can’t efficiently ramp up and down based on shifting dates,” Inger says.
“If Queensland can offer more certainty – something Powerlink is well placed to do – it’ll help the whole supply chain plan. That’s a real drawcard for builders and engineers.”
Large construction contractors who are either re-entering the energy space or bringing experience from overseas, have been engaging in the market to support with the energy transition, however, the ability to stick to dates has proven elusive in other jurisdictions.
“Some of these contractors are used to established processes on government Transport projects that have historically had a lot more consistency of keeping to tender and construction start timelines,” Inger says.
That lack of certainty affects not only resource allocation but procurement of construction plant and long lead equipment.
“By identifying delivery partners earlier and achieving start dates, Queensland can help ensure critical resources are available when needed,” Inger says.
People, power and potential
Both Inger and Patel are candid about one of the biggest threats to the energy transition: the workforce shortfall.
From specialist high-voltage engineers to construction trades, Australia simply does not yet have the talent pool to meet demand.
“Transmission line engineers are in especially short supply,” Patel says.
“We haven’t built big transmission projects for decades, so there’s a generation of expertise that hasn’t come through. We’re competing globally for the same skills now.”
It’s a constraint that Queensland will need to confront head-on. Beca recommends early, public commitment to project timelines to give training institutions and contractors the confidence to invest in capacity building.
Continuity counts
One of Beca’s strengths lies in team continuity. Inger points to the Project EnergyConnect rollout, where the same core team stayed on the job for over four years.
“That’s rare in this industry,” he says.
“And it makes a difference. You retain knowledge, maintain momentum, and reduce the time spent getting new people up to speed. It’s something we’re proud of.”
The company sees value in bringing this continuity to Queensland – particularly as projects scale and the state moves from planning to delivery.
Climate resilience front and centre
Queensland’s harsh climate presents another test. Cyclones are getting stronger while flooding is increasing in frequency and intensity. That reality is shaping infrastructure design.
“All our designs factor in climate change,” says Patel.
“That includes modelling and consideration for severe weather events. Resilience is baked into the brief.”
Drawing on post-flood recovery experience in New Zealand, Inger highlights the importance of pragmatic design to consider climate resilience alongside appropriate planning for rapid response.
“The industry has learned a lot from recent severe weather events and we have come up with some great ways to mitigate future risks, however, there is a need to consider the efficient intersection of investment in mitigation vs. response planning” he says.
“We’re working with clients to both prevent the risks and be ready to act if it does happen.”
Pragmatic progress
Beca’s ambition in Queensland is not just about growing market share. The company is keen to apply its hard-won set of insights to a region on the cusp of transformation.
“There’s no single blueprint,” says Patel.
“But there are smart, proven strategies – around land use, engagement, technical planning, resilience – that can give Queensland a smoother ride.”
For Beca, success in the Sunshine State will build on interstate wins, applying its understanding of how to build trust, certainty, and capability along the way.