There has been significant change in the opportunities of interest in Australia’s water sector over the last year. The days of the billion dollar plus mega-projects seem to be numbered.
SE Queensland’s massive networks of pumps, pipes and reuse plants are nearing completion, as is the Gold Coast desalination plant. Sydney’s desal plant is half way finished, and alliances have been shortlisted for Melbourne desal, Adelaide desal, and Perth’s second desalination plant.
While the projects above will keep some organisations very busy for the next couple of years, the new opportunities will be in irrigation and regional urban centres. Tasmania has a massive backlog of infrastructure to be built, and is currently putting the governance structures in place for the execution. Victoria is in pretty good shape (though vulnerable to climate change) but NSW and much of Queensland have a long way to go, and still lack the governance to make things happen.
The big unknown quantity is the extent and effect of climate change on rainfall and run off, but we can make some reasonable predictions based on exisiting studies of what kind of work is going to be required. More on that next time.
Filed under: industry trends Tagged: | infrastructure, linkedin, water opportunities
