Jobs in AU renewable sector decline by 15 percent

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released a report on employment in renewable energy activities in Australia 2013/14, which shows a decrease in employment of 15 percent in the sector.

Annual employment in renewable energy activities in Australia stood at 12.590 in 2013/14, which represents a decline of 15 percent when compared to its peak that was recorded in 2011/12.

The employment in the renewable sector in 2011/12 was 14.890.

According to ABS, levels of employment in renewable energy activities are influenced by a number of government policies, including taxes, subsidies and pricing policies.

Policies to enable the achievement of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) have an important influence on the uptake of all types of renewable energy and therefore on employment in renewable energy activities, ABS report states.

Recently, Australia has come to a deadlock when it comes to RET scheme that is set to 20 percent by 2020, which amounts to 41.000 GW/h of electricity generated from renewable sources. Due to the fall in electricity demand, the GW/h target set by RET scheme would represent more than 20 percent of Australia’s electricity needs.

Renewables industry claims that this is deterring banks from funding the renewable energy projects, and Clean Energy Council (CEC) has called the political leadership of Australia to resolve the crisis in the Australian renewable energy sector by setting up the RET target to 33.500 GW/h, to get the industry moving again. The government has agreed to set the new RET scheme to 32.000 GW/h.

Now, the opposing Labor Party is backing the CEC proposition.

Kane Thornton, Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, commented: “The federal Labor Party now joins many state and territory governments, a growing number of Coalition politicians and the vast majority of Australians who want an end to the current renewable energy crisis. We are now calling on the government to also support the industry’s proposal, which will help save Australian jobs and create massive economic benefits, predominantly for rural areas of the country, between now and 2020. It will also generate significant business for hundreds of contractors and small enterprises across Australia.”

Thornton said the current investment crisis, caused by the Federal Government’s review of the RET and the breakdown in bipartisanship, would only end when the two major parties agreed on a sensible outcome.

Clean Energy Council is an industry association made up of more than 550 member companies operating in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

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Image: Carnegie Wave Energy/Illustration