BESS jobs, work on battery energy storage projects, are one of the fastest-growing corners of Australia’s renewables sector right now. Most of the roles are the same ones you’d find on any construction or civil site: general and civil labour, plus more specialised trade and plant work as a project moves through its stages. Getting on is largely the same process too: register with a labour hire provider, hold the right general tickets for the work, and be ready to go when a site needs people.
What actually happens on a BESS site?
A battery energy storage system is a large-scale battery installation connected to the electricity grid, usually built alongside a solar or wind farm, that stores power to release later when it’s needed. Building one looks a lot like building any other piece of infrastructure: site preparation and civil works first, then the installation of the battery units, switchgear and electrical infrastructure, then testing and commissioning before it goes live.
It’s a newer part of the renewables build-out compared with solar and wind farms, but it sits inside the same broader project pipeline. If you’ve worked on a solar farm or a wind project before, a lot of the on-site basics carry across: a fenced construction site, staged access, and crews moving through the same civil-to-installation-to-commissioning sequence. If you’re new to renewables altogether, our renewable energy workforce page is a good starting point for what the sector covers beyond BESS specifically.
What roles are on offer?
The mix of roles shifts as the project moves through those stages. Early on, it’s mostly general and civil labour: earthworks, site setup, materials handling. As the project moves into installation, more specialised trade and plant roles come into play. Exactly which tickets and licences are needed depends on the specific role and site, so it’s worth checking with the employer or provider for the particular job you’re applying for rather than assuming. If you’re weighing up where BESS work fits against other renewables roles, our battery storage labour hire page has more on the kind of project work involved.
What do you need to get considered?
A few basics apply across most sites, BESS included:
- A general construction induction card (White Card) if the role involves construction work. It’s obtained through the nationally recognised general construction induction training and is a baseline requirement on most sites.
- Any trade-specific ticket or licence the particular role calls for. This varies by job, so confirm what’s needed before you apply rather than after.
- Availability. Renewables projects, BESS included, tend to move in stages with different crew needs at each one, so being ready to start when a role opens up matters.
How labour hire fits in
On a BESS site, most of the workforce isn’t employed directly by the head contractor. They’re on the books of a labour hire provider and placed on site for the length of the job or the project stage they’re needed for. That’s worth knowing if you’re new to renewables work: your employer is the labour hire company, even though you’re taking direction on site from the project team.
It works in your favour as a jobseeker too. A labour hire provider is placing people across several projects at once, not just one, so if a BESS role you were lined up for gets pushed back, there’s a reasonable chance of another opening elsewhere in the meantime, whether that’s a different renewables site or a construction or civil project.
Getting started
If BESS jobs or renewables work generally is what you’re after, the first step is the same as it is for any labour hire role: get your name down. Register for work with TradeConnex and we’ll match you against roles as they come up across construction, civil and renewables sites, BESS projects included.
