Estimates for employment prospects are predominantly available for onshore wind or the generic wind industry. DWTMA [44] gives estimates of employment generated by wind energy in Denmark, broken down by sectors defined in Danish input-output tables and applying economic multipliers. EWEA, Cambridge Econometrics and ECOTEC [45], [46] & [47] use economic modelling techniques to estimate job creation for future energy mix scenarios. ESD for Friends of the Earth [48] surveys employment in the UK wind energy industry. [49]
Altener [50] provides estimates for both onshore and offshore broken down into construction & installation and operation & maintenance, for 1995 and scenarios up to 2020. ESD for Greenpeace [51] is dedicated to offshore estimates and uses input-output analysis to estimate job creation by industry sector as a result of installing some 10GW of offshore wind.
BorderWind for Greenpeace [52] is also dedicated to offshore wind and provides estimates of direct job creation by activity based on consultation with developers and operators. This estimate is reproduced below.
Estimate of direct employment to develop offshore wind farms.
|
Full Time Jobs/MW |
||
|
Project design and development |
Marine/ground investigations |
0.01 |
|
Site development including permissions |
0.1 |
|
|
Design including structural, electrical and resource |
0.02 |
|
|
Finance |
0.04 |
|
|
Component supply |
Generators |
0.15 |
|
Gearboxes |
0.9-0.4 |
|
|
Rotor blades |
0.5 |
|
|
Brakes, hydraulics |
0.04 |
|
|
Electrical & control systems |
0.04 |
|
|
Towers |
0.9 |
|
|
Assembly |
Wind turbines |
1 |
|
Installation |
Foundation structure |
0.3 |
|
Electrical and connecting cables |
0.05 |
|
|
Wind turbines |
0.3 |
|
|
Project management & commissioning |
0.11 |
|
|
Operation & maintenance |
Management, routine and fault maintenance |
0.06 |
|
TOTAL |
4.52 |
Sweden has no wind power industry, however, even without turbine manufacturing in Sweden there will be an effect from the increasing wind industry upon the Swedish labour market. Steel manufacture and fabrication and electric equipment are standard Swedish export products.
Industry has started in Malmö and is planned in Kiruna and Luleå. The Swedish government has stated its intention to build wind power plants for 10 TWh annual production, of which more than half will be offshore.
It is predicted that in Germany, as a result of wind energy use, 25,000 to 30,000 jobs will be directly and indirectly created by the end of 2000 [53] & [54].