Methodology The opportunity assessment used quantitative and qualitative data to capture a holistic view of pathways to mapping the energy sector workforce, skills and training landscape, and innovation pathways. A wide range of domestic and international stakeholders, including the project’s Industry Reference Group, were consulted through interviews, workshops and surveys, with the breakdown by stakeholder type shown in Figure E1.
In total, eighty interviews were conducted across the three work packages, and there were eighty-six workshop attendances. This collaborative approach has been critical in ensuring the project has engaged with, and is aligned with, the needs of industry, government, academia and other stakeholders.
Figure E-1. Stakeholder involvement
Interviews Non-governmental organisations 3%
Workshops Governmental/ intergovernmental organisations 25%
Industry & industry associations 47%
Governmental/ intergovernmental organisations 35%
Academia 17% Industry & industry associations 45%
Consultants 10%
Consultants 2%
Academia 16%
Results and discussion Measuring and forecasting the clean energy workforce There has not been systematic measurement of the clean energy sector in Australia since the NSW Sustainable Energy Development Agency (SEDA) survey in 2001/2003. Recent studies estimate the renewable energy workforce to be at least 30,000 and the energy efficiency workforce to be between 59,000 and 236,000. However, there is no reliable baseline information, and no consistent method of projection apart from some types of renewable energy. By 2030 the clean energy sector could increase by somewhere between 130,000 and 200,000 jobs (WWF 2020a and 2020b, Murphy 2020). The current value of the Australian renewable sector is estimated as $18.6 billion (CEC, 2021). There are no current estimates for the value of the energy efficiency sector. If the ratio of sector value to employees were the same as in Canada (Eco Canada 2019), and if the range of Australian employment
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E3 Opportunity Assessment: Developing the future energy workforce
estimates is correct, the Australian energy efficiency sector would have a value of between $11 billion and $45 billion. This would give an indicative total value for the clean energy sector of between $30 billion and $63 billion. If the ratio of value to employee number were to remain the same as it is today, and the projections are correct, total sector value could increase to between $64 billion and $110 billion by 2030. The opportunity assessment reviewed alternative methodological approaches, including surveys of different types, input-output modelling, macro-econometric modelling, and computable general equilibrium modelling. There was widespread consensus that good quality baseline information followed by systematic projections are needed, and that these should be for the entire energy sector, broken down by sub-sectors, rather than an assessment of the clean energy sector alone. Consistency across the traditional and emerging energy sectors is important, as there is an increasing need for integration of all forms of energy. The only way to accurately
