RABIA FERROUKHI

Rabia Ferroukhi joined IRENA in 2011, and is currently Deputy Director of the Knowledge, Policy and Finance division. She also leads IRENA’s Policy Unit, which is responsible for work on a range of renewable energy policy issues including design, socioeconomic benefits and

integrated resource management. She brought to this position over 20 years of experience in the fields of energy, development and environment. She has worked in both public and private sectors, including with governments in the Middle East and North Africa, energy companies in the Mediterranean region and the GCC, and international institutions. Dr. Ferroukhi holds a Masters in Applied Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics from the American University in Washington DC.

MICHAEL RENNER

Michael Renner is a Programme Officer in IRENA’s Knowledge Policy and Finance Centre in Abu Dhabi, with a focus on the socio-economic benefits of renewable energy. Prior to joining IRENA in 2017, he was a Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, a US-based research organisation. His principal focus since the early 1990s has been on the linkages between environment, energy and employment. He was lead author of Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World (UNEP, 2008), and has consulted for the ILO on this topic. Michael holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the University of Amsterdam.

CELIA GARCÍA-BAÑOS

Celia García-Baños is an Associate Professional in IRENA’s Knowledge Policy and Finance Centre in Abu Dhabi. Within the Policy Unit, she works on a diverse range of subjects including the socio-economic benefits of renewable energy. Prior to joining IRENA, she worked with the

Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium at the Masdar Institute, researching molecular. and biochemical screening of mangrove sediments in Abu Dhabi for biomass-degrading enzymes. Celia is a chemical engineer from the Industrial Engineering School of the Technical University of Madrid.

ARSLAN KHALID

Arslan Khalid is a consultant who specialises in the analysis of renewable energy policies and the socio-economic impacts of renewables. His work on the socio-economic benefits of renewables is focused on employment impacts, and has resulted in regular publications including the IRENA Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review series. He has also contributed to the research and development of several studies on renewable energy policies using both qualitative and quantitative methods. He holds a masters in Engineering Systems and Management from Masdar Institute.

Renewable energy jobs: The EU within the wider global context

Renewable energy offers a range of socio-economic benefits, including employment creation and the stimulation of local, national and regional economies. IRENA’s Renewable Energy and Jobs - Annual Review provides regular assessments of employment generation along the value chain. In the latest edition [1], we estimate that in 2017, some 10.3 million people were employed in the sector worldwide [2], up from 7.1 million in our first annual assessment in 2012. The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry has enjoyed the fastest expansion. It now employs close to 3.4 million people, putting it ahead of bioenergy, hydropower and wind power.

In 2017, some 10.3 million people were employed in the sector worldwide, up from 7.1 million in our first annual assessment in 2012

Even though an increasing number of countries derives benefits from renewable energy, employment remains concentrated in a handful of countries — primarily China, Brazil, the United States, India, Germany and Japan. Germany and other Member States of the European Union (EU) played a pioneering role in creating markets, manufacturing equipment and deploying renewables. Yet, policy uncertainties and reversals have presented challenges in recent years, during a time when China and some other Asian countries boosted their investments. Not only did they encourage domestic deployment with the help of feed-in tariffs, auctions, and other measures, but they also created strong manufacturing capabilities through preferential credit and land policies and local content rules.

2016 is the most recent year for which complete renewable energy employment estimates are available for Europe. IRENA estimates that the number of jobs reached 1.27 million [3]. The solid biomass and wind power industries have the largest workforces, with about 389 000 and 344 000 jobs respectively. Biofuels follow with about 200 000, and biogas with 71 000 jobs; altogether, bioenergy employs some 660 000 people. Solar PV employment has been cut in half from 220 000 to just under 100 000 in the space of five years, reflecting reduced domestic installations and lagging competitiveness in module manufacturing. The remaining technologies — hydro, solar water heating, geothermal energy and CSP — together employ about 140 000 people.

Europe’s wind industry is a global technology leader, especially in the offshore segment, where the continent’s 15.8 GW of installed capacity at the end of 2017 represented 84% of the global total

The wind power sector is Europe’s brightest spot. According to Global Wind Energy Council data [4], of the ten countries with the largest installed wind capacity in the world, half are European. During 2017, four EU countries — Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Belgium — were among the ten that added the most capacity worldwide. IRENA estimates EU wind power employment in 2016 at close to 344 000, a 10% increase over 2015. Germany represented nearly half of this total, followed by the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Spain

Europe’s wind industry is a global technology leader, especially in the offshore segment, where the continent’s 15.8 GW [5] of installed capacity at the end of 2017 represented 84% [6] of the global total. Export markets hold considerable importance, yet competition is intensifying internationally and various incentives for localisation are reshaping the supply chain. More than 80% [7] of European wind firms have either a manufacturing or commercial presence in other parts of the world.

With some 325 000 jobs, Germany continues to have Europe’s largest renewable energy workforce. The United Kingdom ranks second, followed by France, Poland, Spain and Italy. But the contrast between Germany’s wind and solar PV sectors couldn’t be more stark. The country’s 160 000-strong wind workforce is equal to the number of wind power employees in the next ten largest European markets combined. However, the loss of competitiveness in PV manufacturing and the contraction of domestic installations (annual capacity additions fell from a peak [8] of between 7.4 and 7.6 GW in 2010-2012 to 1.75 GW in 2017) translated into the loss of three quarters of the 142 700 jobs that existed in 2011.

Source: ©Agafapaperiapunta - istockphoto.com

With adequate policy support, European and global renewable energy deployment will continue to drive the low-carbon energy transition and generate growing numbers of jobs. IRENA’s work on Leveraging Local Capacity indicates that a typical 50 MW solar PV plant requires a total of close to 230 000 person-days [9] of work along the entire value chain, from project planning and equipment manufacturing to construction and installation, operations and maintenance, and finally decommissioning. An onshore wind farm of the same size requires about 144 000 person-days [10]. Offshore wind farms are typically of much greater size than onshore installations. A 500 MW facility requires some 2.10 million person-days [11] of work.

The role of renewables in the European and global energy system keeps expanding, even as the sector undergoes realignments and regional shifts. In line with IRENA’s latest energy transformation scenario [12], jobs in the sector could rise from 10.3 million in 2017 to 23.6 million in 2030 and 28.8 million in 2050. In addition to deployment and industrial policies, education and training of new workers is essential to avoid skill gaps. Further, to retain skilled and experienced employees, ensuring job quality (attractive wages, good working conditions and opportunities for career advancement) is critical. The transition also needs to embrace fairness, providing adequate adjustment support to fossil fuel-dependent workers and communities.