The forecast figures around jobs in renewables often look good. Take a recent analysis of Scotland’s biggest planned offshore wind farm, Berwick Bank, in the outer Firth of Forth, by BVG associates, which estimated this single project could bring round 4,650 direct and indirect jobs in Scotland, and 9,300 in the UK – and all from one, admittedly giant, enterprise.
There has long been a wind of promise attached to renewables, with each new development bringing with it the pledge of jobs for Scotland – but too often that has turned to disappointment. Such was the case when Seagreen awarded all of the contracts for manufacture of the jacket foundation structures to overseas companies, in the United Arab Emirates and China, rather than Burntisland Fabrications, or BiFab, the local yard – which later went into administration.
Too often it has seemed like the promise of jobs has been all too much hot wind. In 2010, for instance, the Scottish Government predicted there would be 28,000 jobs north of the Border in the offshore wind industry alone by 2020. However, a recent report published by Strathclyde University’s Fraser of Allander Institute published last month found Scotland supported 6,735 full-time jobs in offshore wind, whilst there were 27,000 jobs altogether in the wider renewable energy industry.
There is no doubt more jobs will come. But how many? The plan is for the UK to increase its offshore wind capacity from 11GW in 2022 to 50GW in 2030. To do this, according to Professor de Leeuw, the UK would have to install “the equivalent of four Seagreen projects and over 400 wind turbines every single year for the next eight years” Read on: https://www.heraldscotland.com/…/23120232.many-jobs…/
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