Australia has experienced a decline in renewable energy jobs of 15% according to the nation’s Bureau Of Statistics (ABS).
Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia is a new ABS publication that reports on Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employment in the renewables sector.
The Bureau reports a drop of 2,300 positions from a peak of 14,890 recorded for 2011-12. ABS notes Renewable Energy Target (RET) policies have an important influence on the uptake of renewables and therefore on employment in renewable energy activities.
For more than a year, Australia’s Renewable Energy Target has been in limbo; which has resulted in investment in large-scale renewable energy projects such as wind and solar farms plummeting 88 per cent. This has had flow-on effects for employment; slowing growth in the sector.
Since 2011-12 all mainland Australian states have experienced a drop in annual direct FTE employment in renewable energy activities; with the largest decline occurring Queensland, where employment fell from 3,820 to 2,520 between 2011-12 and 2013-14.
Western Australia experienced a fall of 920 (from 1,740 to 820) or 53 per cent over the same period.
However, Tasmania, the ACT and Northern Territory recorded rises in FTE employment, with Tasmania’s tally increasing by 290 positions, or 25 per cent.
The Bureau’s report states employment in roof-top solar, including solar hot water systems, represented the largest slice of total direct annual full-time employment in 2013-14; constituting 6,120 position or 49 per cent.
“Though employment in this category fluctuated during the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14, it remained the largest single contributor to employment in renewable energy activities for this period,” states ABS.
The Bureau classifies roof-top solar as all installations of solar power systems under 40kW.
The number of rooftop solar related jobs has decreased significantly since the heady days of very generous rebates and feed in tariffs – from 10,990 in 2011-12 to 6,120 in 2013-14. While financial incentives may not be as large as they once were, massive reductions in the price of solar components and the advent of zero-deposit solar has put the power-bill busting technology within reach of many more Australians.
It hasn’t all been bad news jobs-wise for solar. ABS notes “large scale” solar (40kW+) positions have increased from just 10 in 2009-10 to 320 in in 2013-14.
The full summary of Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia and related data sets can be viewed here.
