Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway – Demand for offshore wind personnel could triple by the end of the 2020s, according to Rystad Energy.
The present headcount of 297,000 could rise to 589,000 by the middle of the decade and number 868,000 full-time jobs by 2030.
Rystad also foresees total installed offshore wind installed capacity climbing to 110 GW by 2025 and 250 GW by 2030, but this will require a much larger pool of skilled personnel.
Job opportunities will grow in development manufacturing, construction, installation, and the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms.
There should also be more openings for workers in steel plants supporting offshore wind turbines, electronics workers at specialist nacelle component suppliers, and at renewable energy regulatory institutions.
Operations and maintenance (O&M) will comprise around 12% of the global offshore wind workforce in 2025.
By 2030, turbine manufacturing will continue to create most of the jobs, (54% of the total), with the major turbine manufacturers Siemens Gamesa, Vestas, Goldwind and GE Renewable Energy set to take on additional labor and establish more factories for larger turbines.
Foundation manufacturing could account for 8% of the total jobs in 2030, followed by foundation installation with 5%.
Europe, Asia (outside China) will likely drive the global jobs creation. In Europe, demand for offshore wind jobs could more than triple by 2030, from 110,000 jobs in 2020 to around 350,000.
In Asia, the major jobs boost will be apparent in the second half of this decade as South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Taiwan grow their offshore wind capacity.
The US could have almost 15 GW of offshore wind installed capacity by 2030, with 30% coming from recent solicitations issued by New York State. Brazil, too, has various large projects on the horizon around the turn of the decade.
02/19/2021
