Ballarat's green tech boom: From waste-to-energy to Australia's first big battery, the city is powering up

Ballarat's green tech sector is surging, with a $165 million hybrid Waste to Energy and Materials Recovery Facility moving forward in the city's West Employment Zone, according to Bioplant Energy [1]. The plant will use pyrolysis technology to convert 150,000 tonnes of waste annually into renewable diesel, green hydrogen, and electricity [1].

The project is part of a broader push that could see the Ballarat region become Victoria's largest energy supplier by 2040, driven primarily by its booming wind farming industry and abundant renewable resources including solar and geothermal energy [2]. The City of Ballarat is actively transitioning to waste-to-energy plants to divert waste from the Smythesdale landfill, which has only 20 years of capacity remaining [5].

Local firms lead the charge

Ballarat-based Gaia Envirotech has received a Sustainability Victoria grant to develop a 'bioenergy hub', using Rapid Composter and Anaerobic Digester technology to turn organic waste into energy [3][6]. The firm's project adds a second waste-to-energy pathway for the city, complementing Bioplant's larger facility.

Ballarat is already home to BESS, Australia's first large-scale grid-connected battery, completed in 2018, which stores renewable energy to meet critical peak demand [4]. That battery marked an early milestone in the city's green tech journey, proving the concept for large-scale energy storage in the National Electricity Market.

Tech jobs grow alongside green energy

The green tech push comes as Ballarat's broader technology sector expands. Accenture is opening a new technology and operations centre in Ballarat in May 2025, creating onshore jobs in application development, IT service management, and business function management [2]. The local IT market, while currently small with limited specialist recruiter representation, is expected to grow as the State Government plans to relocate IT roles to the Ballarat GovHub [2].

There are approximately 75 to 185 active technology job vacancies across major platforms like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Jobted, with IT-specific roles totaling over 300 vacancies [4]. Typical salaries for tech roles in Ballarat range from $70,000 to $100,000 annually, with IT Support Technician and Systems Engineer roles paying $70,000-$90,000 and $75,000-$85,000 respectively [1]. Hybrid work options are common, including roles with 3 days in-office and remote work options, plus benefits like RDOs and superannuation above the national standard [4].

Major employers hiring for tech positions in Ballarat include ANZ, IBM, Accenture, Amazon, EY, Coles, Kogan.com, and the City of Ballarat government [4]. Entry-level tech roles are limited, with most positions requiring 2-5 years of experience in networking, system administration, or cloud platforms like M365 and SAP [4].

For job seekers, the growing green tech sector offers a new avenue. With Bioplant Energy's facility and Gaia Envirotech's bioenergy hub both in development, opportunities are likely to emerge in operations, engineering, and systems management. As the city's renewable energy capacity expands, so too does the demand for the technical workforce to run it.