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Renewable energy creates millions of jobs

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 26 May 2016
The continued job growth in the renewable energy sector is significant, says IRENA.
The continued job growth in the renewable energy sector is significant, says IRENA.

As the ongoing energy transition accelerates, the growth in renewable energy employment has also surged.

According to a report released yesterday by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), more than 8.1 million people worldwide are now employed by the renewable energy industry - a 5% increase from last year.

The report, "Renewable Energy and Jobs - Annual Review 2016", also provides a global estimate of the number of jobs supported by large hydropower, with a conservative estimate of an additional 1.3 million direct jobs worldwide.

IRENA says Africa has also seen many interesting developments leading to job creation, including solar and wind development in Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and SA.

SA touch

Although SA is not leading the pack in regards to jobs created by the renewable energy industry, the country has had its fair share of success.

In her budget speech earlier this month, energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson provided some good news regarding employment from renewable energy.

She pointed out that projects up to bid window three of the country's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, which have only just started construction, are already outperforming predicted levels of employment, reaching 111% of the planned numbers.

The fact that there are still 23 developments still under construction and creating employment means figures are likely to continue to exceed expectations, she added.

Developers had committed to delivering 8 451 jobs during the construction phase, but actual figures stand 70% higher at 14 334 new jobs.

The majority of these jobs are in rural provinces. "The programmes have already brought about much relief to economically depressed municipalities, providing not only household connections to the grid but also employment and economic empowerment opportunities to those mainly in rural areas," Joemat-Pettersson noted.

The sector is helping government to meet its target of creating five million jobs by 2020.

Climate targets

IRENA director-general Adnan Z Amin says the continued job growth in the renewable energy sector is significant because it stands in contrast to trends across the energy sector.

"This increase is being driven by declining renewable energy technology costs and enabling policy frameworks. We expect this trend to continue as the business case for renewables strengthens and as countries move to achieve their climate targets," Amin says.

The total number of renewable energy jobs worldwide rose in 2015 while jobs in the broader energy sector fell, finds the report.

In the US, for example, renewable energy jobs increased 6% while employment in oil and gas decreased 18%. Likewise in China, renewable energy employed 3.5 million people, while oil and gas employed 2.6 million.

As in previous years, enabling policy frameworks remained a key driver of employment. National and state auctions in India and Brazil, tax credits in the US and favourable policies in Asia have all contributed to employment increases.

Countries with the most renewable energy jobs in 2015 included China, Brazil, the US, India, Japan and Germany.

Solar power

IRENA notes the solar photovoltaic sector remains the largest renewable energy employer worldwide with 2.8 million jobs (up from 2.5 million at last count) with jobs in manufacturing, installation as well as operations and maintenance.

Liquid biofuels was the second largest global employer with 1.7 million jobs, followed by wind power, which grew 5% to reach 1.1 million global jobs.

"As the ongoing energy transition accelerates, growth in renewable energy employment will remain strong," Amin points out.

"IRENA's research estimates that doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030 - enough to meet global climate and development targets - would result in more than 24 million jobs worldwide."

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