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Employment exceeds pre-pandemic levels: IEA
APAC TO GENERATE LION’S SHARE OF WORLD’S ENERGY BY 2030
ASIA PACIFIC
The Asia-Pacific region is expected to generate 56% of the world’s energy by 2030, GlobalData reported.
Between 2022 and 2030, power generation in the region is projected to rise by 3.9% annually, higher than the 1.8% and 1.4% growth forecast in Europe and North America, respectively.
“Traditionally, growth has been reliant on increasing fossil fuel use, which is at odds with the burning need to decarbonize and limit the effects of climate change,” Robert Penman, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, said.
“Climate change will increase energy demand and consumption even further.
APAC is expected to account for 43% of the total renewable energy generation by 2030, driven largely by investments in China Australia, and potentially, Mongolia.
“China is a clear winner when it comes to renewables in the APAC region. It has invested heavily in both solar and wind, and its highly productive companies will export these technologies and the necessary infrastructure worldwide,” Penman said.
“Australia will benefit greatly from the energy transition as it has access to key raw materials and enormous solar power potential—useful for hydrogen production.”
He also cited Mongolia’s potential for the production of a 2.6-terawatt renewable, which could be boosted by major advances in battery storage.
Wind power in APAC
Despite this positive outlook, the region, excluding China, lags in terms of the projected wind power capacity growth between 2022 and 2031.
In a report, Wood Mackenzie forecasted that installed capacity in global wind power is expected to grow 1.9%, or 25.6 gigawatts (GW), quarter-onquarter between 2022 and 2031.
This was largely driven by the Americas and Europe as the markets intensify their strategies and implement new climate policies, leading to a net upgrade of 21GWs. The Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, meanwhile saw a 1.9GW reduction.
Luke Lewandowski, Wood Mackenzie research director explained the reduction in the Asia-Pacific region was due to concerns about Vietnam’s state utility and slow development in Japan and South Korea.
“This is primarily due to the state utility in Vietnam not recognising new wind power over grid stability concerns, but also due to slow market development in Japan and project adjustments in South Korea,” Lewandowski said.“
China holds almost 30% of the total workforce in Asia (Photo by Jiri Rezac)
Employment exceeds pre-pandemic levels: IEA
ASIA PACIFIC
Employment in the energy sector “recovered strongly” despite the widespread layoffs particularly in the oil and gas supply at the start of the pandemic and is set to rise further on the back of clean energy growth as markets and companies pick up the pace of their decarbonisation moves.
In a report, the International Energy Agency said the energy sector employed more than 65 million people in 2019, accounting for around 2% of the total global employment, 21 million of which were in fuel supply, 20 million in the power sector, and 24 million in end users such as energy efficiency and vehicle manufacturing.
Total energy employment in 2021 rose by around 1.3 million from 2019 and could increase by 6% this year, the IEA said, noting that clean energy accounts for “virtually all” of the growth in energy employment.
“All drivers of energy employment are set to rise in 2022, but the turbulence afoot in global markets is reshaping which regions are seeing investment and how much of the increased economic activity flows to workers,” the report read.
“Total energy demand also climbed higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2021, with increased production driving a greater need for workers,” it said, adding that investments in energy are expected to rise by 8% this year and reach $2.4t.
The sector will see the fastest employment growth in recent years in 2022 but it may face challenges in hiring and the supply chains due to high input costs and inflationary pressures. These challenges may already be present in some regions and sectors like solar, wind, oil, and gas.
The clean energy sector accounted for over half of the total workforce due to the increase in the number of projects that are expected to commence operations, according to IEA.
Around 7.8 million employees are in the low-carbon power generation, mainly in the solar and wind sectors, at the same level as the oil supply.
Meanwhile, the fossil fuel sector, including coal, currently employ almost 32 million workers globally. The IEA said that some companies are moving some of their employees to the low-carbon segments internally to retain them, and enable flexibility to shift workers to different segments if needed.
“However, this is not an option everywhere, and ensuring a just transition for affected workers is a growing focus for policymakers in many regions, especially for coal, which has already seen consistent declines since 2015,” the IEA said.
Asia Pacific
The agency also said that more than half of the employment in the energy sector is in the Asia Pacific region due to the rapid infrastructure development in the region, surpassing the others. China also holds almost 30% of the total workforce.
The lower-cost labour in APAC resulted in the rise of significant clean energy manufacturing hubs that provide supply to renewable projects globally such as solar, electric and hybrid vehicles and batteries, contributing to the rise of employment in the region, it said.
On the other hand, it noted that North America and Europe hold sizeable employment on projects abroad and domestically such as in oil, gas, wind, and vehicle engineering.
The IEA said that in all scenarios, employment in the sector will grow and outweigh the decrease in jobs in the fossil fuel sector. In the net-zero emissions by 2050 scenario, the agency said around 14 million new jobs in the clean energy sector will be added by 2030. Another 16 million will move to new roles in clean energy.
“Countries around the world are responding to the current crisis by seeking to accelerate the growth of homegrown clean energy industries. The regions that make this move will see huge growth in jobs,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.
