Renewable energies not only present advantages for the environment and consumers’ electricity bills, but also open up a very wide range in terms of new employment opportunities. Renewable energy engineering technician, renewable sources installation technician, maintenance developer or specialized salesperson are some of the most sought-after professionals in the sector. However, there is a problem: a lack of qualified labor.
Given the ‘boom’ of green projects that are taking place and are expected in the coming years, the Government will launch Specifically, the clean energy market could generate 468,000 jobs (direct and indirect) in Spain during the decade .
This was stated this Monday by the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, echoing the report Renewable Energies and employment: annual review 2022, prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Andalusia and Castilla y León will be the autonomous communities that will benefit the most thanks to the number of ‘green’ megawatts (MW) that they have projected. According to industry sources, the two regions will take around 175,000 of these new jobs, representing 37% of the total. Aragon follows them with about 60,000.
It must be borne in mind that Andalusia has obtained Environmental Impact Declarations (DIA) from the Executive that add up to 4,063 MW, while Castilla y León reaches 7,379 MW. To these MW we must add those that received the green light from the regional governments. However, this does not mean that they will all be built, but rather that it represents one more step (albeit a very important one) in its processing.
Photovoltaic industrial hub
As a country, Spain aspires to establish itself as the photovoltaic industrial hub of Europe. The Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF) calculates that 20,000 million euros of public and private investment can be deployed only in solar energy until 2030. The employers emphasize that up to 65% of the equipment can be manufactured in Spain and that the country has the competitive advantage of having land and solar resources. In this context, Spain has launched itself to lead a project of community interest (IPCEI) for the manufacture of solar panels in Europe. Solar energy is the one that will contribute the most to job creation, since, according to estimates by the Association of Renewable Energy Companies (APPA), of every 100 jobs created, 68 are maintained for about 20 years.
Going back to UNEF data, in 2022, 3,712 MW of new solar energy power was installed in Spain in projects on the ground, directly and indirectly employing 74,250 people. Likewise, the association (which brings together 770 companies) estimates that the 40 gigawatts (GW) solar that have obtained the positive environmental report this January and that will be operational in the next three years, will give direct work to 80,000 more people.
For its part, with regard to wind energy, 25 out of every 100 jobs correspond to manufacturing or auxiliary companies, 64 to the installation area during the first year and 11 to the operations and maintenance section for 25 years. In Spain there are 250 manufacturing centers spread over 16 of the 17 autonomous communities. With a contribution of 3,106 million to the GDP (0.3%), around 30,000 people work in the sector, according to data from the Wind Energy Business Association (AEE). Now the focus is on offshore wind.
According to employers, this technology will generate 7,523 new jobs between 2025 and 2030 and there will be 17,438 specialized professionals by 2045-2050. Currently, only a few European ports are suitable for the assembly, manufacture and maintenance of marine energy installations, and the Government estimates between 500 and 1,000 million investment needs to strengthen port infrastructure+ and another 200 million in aid until 2023.
Seven million worldwide
The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that jobs related to clean energy manufacturing could double by 2030, from the current six million to almost 14 million. In its Energy Technology Perspectives 2023 report, it also underlines that the global manufacturing market for ‘green’ technologies can reach a value of around 650,000 million dollars per year (600,000 million euros) by the end of the decade, more than triple the current level. . However, to reach that figure, countries around the world must “fully” comply with their announced energy and climate commitments.
