Solar energy created 74,250 jobs in 2022 and expects to create another 80,000 in the next 3 years

The importance of solar energy is growing by leaps and bounds in the Spanish economy.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
14 February 2023 Tuesday 22:27
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Solar energy created 74,250 jobs in 2022 and expects to create another 80,000 in the next 3 years

The importance of solar energy is growing by leaps and bounds in the Spanish economy. If yesterday it was known that self-consumption has doubled its capacity in a single year, this Tuesday the Spanish Photovoltaic Union takes stock of the impact of the sector on the labor market.

Data from the sector's employers indicate that in 2022, 3,712 new megawatts of ground-based photovoltaic energy were installed in Spain. That is, without counting the 2,700 that APPA reported yesterday as installed on roofs.

In total there are already 770 companies in the photovoltaic sector that during 2022 directly and indirectly employed 74,250 people in Spain.

“One more year, in the context of International Energy Day, from UNEF we can provide new data that shows that Spain has, thanks to solar energy, a great opportunity. Through this source of clean, cheap generation that is fully respectful of nature, we are not only fighting against climate change and shielding our country from its effects, but we are also contributing to the generation of quality jobs, to a real reindustrialization that allows us to reverse the emptied Spain”, recalled José Donoso, general director of UNEF.

Currently, Spain already has a total of 19,621 MW of installed power, which represents 50% of the total objective that Spain must meet according to the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan proposed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Urban Agenda before of 2030.

In addition, according to the data collected by UNEF, Spain already has 5,249 MW of cumulative installed power for self-consumption. Regarding the distribution by sectors, the majority of this new power, 47%, has been installed in the industrial sector, 32% in the residential sector, 20% in the commercial sector, with the remaining 1% being isolated self-consumption .

According to estimated data from the Spanish Photovoltaic Union, in the next three years they will directly employ around 80,000 people. This without yet having the details of the exact impact that the entry of projects for a total power of 40 GW that obtained an Environmental Impact Declaration on January 25 will have on the sector and that will be operational in the next three years.