AREG Statement on Scottish Renewables Jobs Report

AREG released the statement on the back of the Scottish Renewables report yesterday about the number of jobs that renewables is creating.

Morag McCorkindale, chief operating officer for Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), said: “This is a demonstration of how Scotland’s fast-growing renewable energy sector is already contributing to the country’s economy and, as Scottish Renewables acknowledges, it is a hugely conservative figure. It is encouraging that the report findings show that almost six jobs are created in the supply chain for every development job. However, the number of jobs being created by the more mature technologies such as onshore wind and grid us considerably higher and therefore we can expect this ratio to rise. This is very positive news for Aberdeen City and Shire, given the specialism of our skills and the experience built up over 40 years in offshore energy.

“It is estimated that Aberdeen City and Shire already supports around 3,000 jobs in renewables. As the region becomes increasingly recognised as a centre of excellence for offshore renewables, we expect this job growth continue to grow at a considerable pace. As a result, this will continue to generate significant business and employment opportunities which are vital to helping to ensure the future prosperity of the North-east of Scotland and its energy industry. It is also important to recognise that this is one of the very few business growth areas in these challenging economic times.

 “AREG is playing an instrumental role in helping to develop and diversify the region’s economy and has an estimated leverage of £268million. One of its flagship projects, the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), is also expected to deliver more than £200million investment in Scottish renewables infrastructure and act as a magnet for jobs and inward investment, particularly in manufacturing. A recent report by the Department of Climate Change (DECC) reinforced the significance of the EOWDC as a major catalyst towards tackling a ‘critical failure’ in the offshore wind turbine supply market. It is essential to address these failures in order to deliver the ambitious targets for offshore wind construction and realise almost £100 billion of new offshore business. The DECC report recognised that the EOWDC itself could help deliver £4billion in value to the UK economy.”

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Offshore WIND staff, March 27, 2012