Global renewable energy employment hits 16.2m as solar power helps lead jobs growth

International Renewable Energy Agency report shows employment increased by 18 per cent year-on-year but authors warn of skills shortage

A large solar power plant in Gujarat, India. The number of people employed in the renewable energy sector has more than doubled over the past decade. Reuters

More than 16.2 million people are now employed in renewable energy, with investment in solar power helping to drive robust jobs growth across the industry, according to a new report.

The International Renewable Energy Agency's (Irena) annual review showed employment grew by 18 per cent year-on-year.

Jobs growth was particularly strong in China, which now accounts for nearly half of all jobs in renewable energy (48 per cent).

Solar photovoltaics (PV), a sector which includes power generated by solar panels, employed 7.1 million people, up from 4.9 million in 2022.

About 4.6 million of these jobs were in China, reflecting its status as world leader in the installation and manufacturing of PV.

The Irena report said Chinese investment has led South-East Asia to become an important export hub of solar PV, creating millions of jobs in the region.

India had an estimated 318,600 solar jobs, with on grid solar estimated to have generated 238,000 jobs alone. The US had 280,000 PV jobs in 2023, significantly lower than in Europe which had 757,500 jobs.

Liquid biofuels had the second-largest number of jobs, followed by hydropower and wind.

Brazil topped the biofuels ranks, accounting for one third of the world’s 2.8 million jobs in this sector. Soaring production put Indonesia in second, with a quarter of global biofuels jobs.

Hydropower became an outlier to the overall growth trend, with the number of direct jobs estimated to have shrunk from 2.5 million in 2022 to 2.3 million. China, India, Brazil, Vietnam and Pakistan were the largest employers in the industry.

In the wind sector, China and Europe remain dominant. As leaders in turbine manufacturing and installations, they contributed 52 per cent and 21 per cent to the global total of 1.5 million jobs, respectively.

The report said that a significant skills shortage was emerging and that workers needed to be retrained to allow the world reach its net zero targets.

Efforts must be made in particular to encourage more women into the sector where they represent just 32 per cent of the total clean energy workforce.

“Investing in education, skills, and training helps reskill all workers from fossil fuel sectors, address gender or other disparities, and prepare the workforce for new clean energy roles, said Gilbert F Houngbo, the director general of the International Labour Organisation, which contributed to the report.

“It is essential if we are to equip workers with the knowledge and skills that they need to get decent jobs, and to ensure that the energy transition is a just and sustainable one.”

The authors noted that Africa received only a small share of global renewables investment, which translated into a total of 324,000 renewables jobs in 2023.

Francesco La Camera, Irena director general, said: “If we are all to fulfil our collective pledge to triple renewable power capacity by 2030, the world must step up its game and support marginalised regions in addressing barriers impeding their transitions progress.”