3. Attracting and training the workforce to ensure adequate labor to scale up clean technologies. Companies could develop their talent reserves by highlighting the green impact of jobs and by offering clear professional-development pathways for blue-collar workers. This goal could be achieved through investments in company-, country-, or EU-wide labor programs, such as skilling, reskilling, and enabling international and cross-sector utilization (for example, in the telecommunications, rail, and energy sectors). Furthermore, policy makers could provide incentives to help companies attract talent. Easing certification requirements
could permit a faster ramping-up of the needed workforce (Exhibit 2).
Action area 2: Building out the energy grid infrastructure to support resilience and reduce barriers to in-region renewables Boosting the share of renewables in the energy mix to 45 percent by 2030 could require a substantial expansion and enhancement of the grid infrastructure to support the integration of new green technologies, such as utility-scale and distributed RES, EVs, and heat pumps. A more
Exhibit 2 Demand for workers to develop and construct wind and solar assets in the European Union is set to increase by a factor of three to four by 2030.
Estimated annual full-time-equivalent needs for development, construction, and operation of wind and solar assets in the EU,¹ thousand
2030: 990
445
Operations and maintenance
2020: 290
285
Operations and maintenance
120
80
Development and construction
220
Development and construction
80
40
10
Blue collar²
White collar³
Blue collar
White collar
1 Estimate based on current and expected build-out and full-time-equivalent workers per gigawatt estimates, based on different publications from International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); learning rates have not been applied. ² Practical workers (eg, construction workers, technicians, ship crew, and operators). ³ Remaining workers (eg, electrical, industrial, mechanical, and telecommunication engineers; and safety and regulation experts, financial analysts, and lawyers). Source: Renewable energy benefits: Measuring the economics , IRENA, Jan 2016; McKinsey Global Energy Perspective, 2022, accelerated transition scenario
McKinsey & Company
Accelerating the journey to net zero
55
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