This is Allens

If there was one moment in 2022 of particular significance in Australia's energy transition, it was the Australian Energy Market Operator suspending the wholesale market in June. That was a big deal – it had never happened before in the history of the National Electricity Market.

For me, that brought together so many strands of the challenges faced by Australia in the energy transition. We had coal-fired power stations offline because of maintenance issues and gas prices had gone through the roof given the war in Ukraine. It was a shock and a moment when people really accepted that the system isn't working anymore and needs to be fixed. 

We are grappling with an issue that has real-world implications and needs to be solved in the next 10 to 15 years. But work has to be done at a frenetic pace, starting now. The sector is feeling the pressure.

There is a huge amount of infrastructure and investment required. We have state governments making announcements and commitments relating to new energy generation and storage infrastructure projects, but Australia is facing significant supply chain and labour challenges.

As the energy transition is an international challenge, in many ways all countries are competing for the same resources – in terms of tangible materials (like wind turbines and lithium for batteries) and an experienced labour force.

We need to invest in transmission infrastructure, which not only requires immense levels of funding, but raises social licence issues as transmission lines have to run through forests and over people's farms and properties.

It will take some time to solve those problems. But the change in government at a federal level has been positive. There is much more support for the transition and more emphasis placed on reducing emissions.

Being involved in the energy transition makes me and my team feel like we're doing something that really matters. It's an interesting and important area of law, and it's in the news every day. It's of such importance to everyone's lives – we all need electricity and we care about climate change. My children, who are 18 and 20, are really interested in what I'm doing, and are proud of the fact that I was recently involved in building the world's most powerful battery which I'm pretty chuffed about.

When energy clients come to us, they engage us for a transaction, but I think what they really value is the experience we can bring to them and our understanding of all of the various pieces that need to come together for an energy project. We put together teams of specialists with deep expertise from across the firm, because energy projects are not just about energy – they require real estate, approvals, construction, regulation and funding expertise. I think a good lawyer is not only technically excellent, but also really curious about what their clients are doing and the industries in which they operate.