Unlocking productivity in energy infrastructure
Australia maintains ambitious decarbonisation targets, yet converting project pipelines into committed capital remains a persistent hurdle. In 2025, only 2.3 gigawatts of large-scale renewable generation reached Financial Close. Meanwhile, the Clean Energy Council identifies 64 gigawatts sitting in the connection pipeline. The bottleneck is not a lack of capital or ideas, but getting projects technically deliverable, bankable, approved and ready to construct.
A key factor in this conversion challenge is relative industry maturity. Compared with other sectors, renewable energy infrastructure is still young. To hit national targets, the sector cannot rely on learning gradually project by project; we must deliberately accelerate knowledge retention and standardisation.
Renewable project economics historically relied on massive equipment price drops: solar module prices fell 500-fold since the 1970s and battery cells dropped 99% since 1991. However, relying solely on falling equipment costs is becoming increasingly risky. Price tailwinds face diminishing returns as key commodities surge, global freight costs climb and shifting international trade settings create friction.
Because equipment price drops offer diminishing returns, focus must shift to the broader capital expenditure (CAPEX) structure. Outside manufactured OEM components, a substantial share of total cost sits in civil works, installation, electrical reticulation and balance-of-plant, ranging from roughly 35% in wind projects up to 65% in utility-scale solar.
Construction costs have escalated faster than general inflation. Manufacturing gains efficiency through volume on a fixed line, whereas construction projects traditionally operate in silos across changing sites and teams, diluting accumulated learning. Protecting project economics requires recreating manufacturing-like conditions on-site: standardisation, repetition, continuity and certainty.
How DT Infrastructure bridges the execution gap
DT Infrastructure (DTI) combines data, standardisation and strategic collaboration to help the industry convert pipeline concepts into bankable assets. Over the past two years, early engagement models have helped guide over two gigawatts of renewable projects through Financial Close and into construction.
“Historically, technology cost curves drove progress across renewables,” says Tom Perkin, General Manager Strategy. “While equipment costs have fallen dramatically, future efficiency gains will rely on transforming construction methodologies, particularly within industrial powerhouses like the Pilbara.”
To address productivity constraints across the CAPEX stack, DTI focuses on three operational levels:
- Project level (Early Contractor Involvement): integrating practical construction expertise into the initial 6 to 12 months of development to test constructability, logistics and risk allocation before committing capital.
- Portfolio level (programmatic delivery): standardising technical specifications and balance-of-plant designs across multiple assets, allowing contractors to retain experienced teams and justify investments in specialised plant.
- Ecosystem level (regional delivery platforms): fostering cross-sector collaboration between developers, government, contractors and OEMs. Long-term pipeline visibility allows assets to be designed specifically for robotic and automated execution from the outset, rather than inserting automated tools into human-designed processes.
The Pilbara as a proving ground
Applying this three-tiered delivery model requires a location with both scale and necessity. The Pilbara region in Western Australia presents ideal conditions to pioneer this industrialised model.
High local costs for labour and remote logistics create a strong financial incentive to reduce on-site hours and streamline material flow. Furthermore, the region’s concentrated industrial energy demand offers a repeat pipeline of significant scale. Combined with existing regional expertise in autonomous equipment and heavy logistics, the Pilbara is uniquely positioned to model a more productive delivery approach.
Expanding early collaboration into portfolio-wide standardisation and regional ecosystem planning provides a clear path forward for the energy sector to systematically eliminate delivery risks and compress timelines.
DTI’s newly appointed General Manager of WA and Defence, Mike Rinaudo, looks forward to working with clients across the region to explore how this opportunity can be realised.
Mike, who recently presented at the Pilbara Summit on this topic on behalf of Tom Perkin, sees an important role for construction expertise and regional capability in improving the way renewable infrastructure is delivered.
DT Infrastructure’s work with Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation on the Jinbi Solar Farm provides a practical example of what this approach can deliver, demonstrating how greater productivity and certainty can be built into renewable energy projects from the outset and support the Pilbara’s growing energy pipeline.