The Mid North of South Australia sits at the forefront of the green energy transition globally, with some of the earliest grid-scale generation installations and a current pipeline of generation, storage and transmission projects under development or construction totalling more than $8.1 billion. The local outlook for the sector is strong, with 4 projects currently under construction and a further 7 expected to commence imminently within 110km of one another.
Effective collaboration between project proponents, local firms and stakeholders to increase the supply of suitably qualified and accredited local suppliers presents the strongest opportunity for supporting project proponents to deliver their projects successfully, while also creating opportunities and legacy benefits for local communities and firms.
Project concept
Regional Development Australia (RDA) Yorke and Mid North is working with renewable proponents, through 2 streams of local procurement activity—workforce and contractors/suppliers.
Briefing events, held by RDA Yorke and Mid North in conjunction with proponents, offer an open invitation to potential workforce or supplier/contractors who have an interest in working on the renewable project. These events provide a comprehensive understanding of various renewable energy projects under development and promote a common platform for registering an 'Expression of Interest' for supplying and working on these projects. RDA Yorke and Mid North has developed a secure online registration platform where contractors and workforce upload their information once, which can be provided to proponents, procurement and recruitment teams as required.
The registration process captures information on skill and capability gaps, enabling targeted training and business support initiatives to be aligned with identified needs, along with accommodation requirements, to inform planning and encourage regional investment. RDA Yorke and Mid North is able to align needs with existing government-funded initiatives. This means eligible businesses can improve business capabilities, which may include pre-qualification and tendering processes.
RDA Yorke and Mid North works closely with a range of different organisations, including government-led, not-for-profit or private companies, on initiatives aimed at creating employment in the region through upskilling local people or facilitating relocation.
Project activity
RDA Yorke and Mid North is currently working with several proponents, with briefing events held for the following projects:
- AULA Energy and Georgetown Hills Renewable Energy—Carmody's Hill Wind Farm Project
- AGL—Barn Hill Wind Farm and Battery Project
- EnergyAustralia—Hallet Battery Energy Storage System.
At these well-attended briefing events, attendees had the opportunity to learn in-depth information about the scope of the projects and likely work opportunities, and were able to ask questions and receive answers directly from the proponent and their associates. The relaxed networking session provided opportunity to create relationships and learn more about each other's expectations and capabilities. Importantly, briefing events also offer opportunity to further promote and educate attendees about the role of RDAs and how to register on the RDA Yorke and Mid North platform.
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Image: Alicia Callary speaking to the audience at the Barn Hill Wind Farm and Battery Project briefing.
Note: Case study current as at 21 October 2025.