In 2018, the phrase grid scale battery meant Hornsdale. 150 MW in the South Australian wheat belt, delivered by Tesla, famously won on a tweet. Six years on, we're tracking 11 operational grid scale batteries in Australia and 21 more in active construction or late stage development. Combined nameplate is now over 6 GW.
The pipeline looks great. The problem is who builds it.
A specialist talent pool of perhaps 200 people
Our internal talent mapping across BESS commissioning, systems integration, and project operations roles identifies roughly 200 people in Australia with demonstrable delivery experience on projects at or above 100 MW. That number is generous. It includes people whose most recent role was two years ago.
Against a pipeline of 6 GW under construction and another 14 GW in late development, that means the average BESS specialist in Australia is being contacted by seven headhunters a month. And the rates are moving.
What's driving it
- Co location everywhere. Every major solar and wind project now has a battery attached. Same project, double the complexity, and no additional commissioning engineers in the talent pool.
- The coal replacement batteries. Eraring, Liddell, Torrens Island. Batteries being built on coal sites to replace closing plants. These are utility grade, fast tracked projects with aggressive timelines.
- State led schemes. The NSW Waratah Super Battery and Queensland SuperGrid are pulling specialists out of private sector projects.
- Grid forming inverters are the new frontier. Very few engineers have genuine experience with grid forming versus grid following deployments at scale. That capability is suddenly essential.
The numbers we're seeing
From live mandates and rate cards across our client base in Q1 2026:
- BESS Commissioning Manager (100MW and above): $220k to $280k base plus super, up from $180k to $230k in early 2024.
- Senior SCADA / Controls Engineer: $210k to $260k, with 20 percent uplifts for grid forming experience.
- Project Manager (BESS specialist): $260k to $340k for build experience at 200MW scale or above.
- Day rates for contract specialists: $1,800 to $2,400 a day, with some outliers pushing $2,800.
The premium isn't just on experience. It's on availability. A commissioning engineer who can mobilise in four weeks is worth 25 percent more than one who can mobilise in twelve.
What clients are doing about it
The smart developers we work with are doing three things.
- Securing talent six to nine months ahead of mobilisation. The old model of hiring 60 days out doesn't work. By the time you've posted the job, three competitors have already approached the person you wanted.
- Building commissioning talent internally. Investing in bringing electrical engineers up the BESS specialist curve, rather than competing for the shrinking existing pool.
- Opening up to international talent. Specifically UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia, where the BESS delivery boom is two to three years ahead of Australia's.
Where this goes
The pipeline isn't slowing. If anything, the Capacity Investment Scheme auctions and state led firming targets accelerate it. We don't see a realistic scenario where the talent supply catches up before 2028. Even then, only if the visa and training levers are pulled deliberately.
For developers and EPCs, the playbook is clear. Treat your people strategy as a delivery risk, not an HR function. The project that finishes on time and on budget in 2026 and 2027 won't be the one with the best EPC contract. It'll be the one with the sharpest talent strategy.
Hiring for BESS? LUVI tracks 50 grid scale battery projects across Australia and maintains active relationships with the country's specialist commissioning, systems and controls talent. Start a search.