Spain | Measuring the impact of installed renewable capacity on employment

Summary

This working paper analyzes the employment effects of renewable energy deployment in Spain. Combining administrative data and LFS microdata, it estimates that solar and wind investments generate substantial provincial employment gains, along with significant spillover effects in other regions.

Key points

• Key points:
• The installation of renewable capacity generates at its peak about 10.15 jobs per megawatt for solar energy and 12.4 jobs for wind power, with a large part of this impact concentrated during the construction phase.
• Spillover effects are identified in economically connected provinces, creating 2.8 extraprovincial jobs per solar MW and 1.5 per wind MW. Wind power generates more green skill-intensive positions (2.4 local jobs per MW).
• Employment multipliers in the first investment wave (2005-2014) were 13 times higher for solar and almost 3 times higher for wind than in later years, driven by falling costs and the shift towards larger plant sizes.
• Under Spain's 2023-2030 energy plan (PNIEC), the estimated peak impact would reach 889,340 additional jobs between 2025 and 2030, while the historical effect observed since 2005 is around 580,000 jobs.

Geographies

Topics

Tags