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| The pressure is on renewable energy jobs. Photo: Supplied |
The number of Australians working in renewable energy has fallen 3 per cent in the past financial year.
The decline caps off a 27 per cent collapse (about 5100 jobs) since 2010-11, when subsidies and other government support for the industry were at their most generous, and comes after investments in new projects cooled and the national renewable energy target sputtered.
The data, released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, showed 470 full-time equivalent jobs were lost in renewable energy across 2014-15, compared with the previous 12 months.
The Australian trend sits amid a backdrop of growing global renewable energy employment. The International Renewable Energy Agency previously found 7.7 million people worked worldwide in the industry in 2014, up 18 per cent from the previous year.
Large-scale solar jobs up, but rooftop and wind roles fall
In Australia, large-scale solar was the only technology to register a meaningful employment rise in 2014-15, albeit coming from a low base of 370 in 2013-14 up to 830.
Most of the fall in employment across 2014-15 was among those working in rooftop solar and wind energy.
The number of people employed installing rooftop solar has collapsed from a high of 14,300 four years ago to about 7500 this last financial year.
In recent years, state and federal governments have reduced and axed subsidies for rooftop solar. The subsidies had helped create an installation boom but also attracted criticism for being overly generous.
Australia has one of the highest penetrations of rooftop solar in the world. The bureau found 19 per cent of suitable households had solar systems installed up to December.
In wind energy, the investment and construction in new projects largely stalled over the last two years after former prime minister Tony Abbott's push to cut the national renewable energy target, which was, ultimately, successful.
The target aims to have about 23 per cent of Australian electricity generated by clean technologies by the end of the decade.
There were 1230 jobs in wind energy last financial year, down from a high the previous year of 1720.
The Turnbull government has sought to assure investors it does not intend to change the renewable energy target again.
However, some market observers say new projects may still not be built fast enough to avoid triggering target penalties that energy consumers will, ultimately, have to pay.
Industry expects turnaround
Recently, big energy firms, such as AGL and Origin, have declared they are again looking to invest in renewable power projects. Australia is also attracting increasing overseas investment interest in its clean energy sector.
Some state governments, including Victoria and Queensland, have also said they will ramp up support for clean energy.
Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said it was no surprise job numbers had fallen in 2014-15, reflecting a difficult period for the industry.
However, he said things were set to improve.
"A lot has changed since then, and confidence is growing across the sector after a challenging few years," Mr Thornton said.
"We are gearing up for an intense period of delivering large-scale projects such as wind and solar power plants between now and the end of the decade, which will create more jobs and investment in regional areas of the country."
Australian Conservation Foundation head Kelly O'Shanassy used the bureau data to attack the federal government's record on clean power, saying it had set the tone for the fall in jobs by dragging out negotiations over cutting the target, and pushing to axe clean energy agencies.
Direct full-time equivalent employment in renewable energy activities in Australia
2009-10 11,520
2010-11 17,010
2011-12 19,120
2012-13 16,930
2013-14 14,490
2014-15 14,020
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
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