The EU could have more than 500,000 workers in wind power and just as many in solar by 2030, but a shortage of electricians risks slowing expansion

By the end of the decade, Europe could have more than half a million direct employees in both wind energy and the solar photovoltaic sector, after more than a decade in which employment in the clean-tech industry grew much faster than in much of the rest of the economy. However, a new report by the European Environment Agency shows that the expansion of power plants, factories and infrastructure is beginning to be constrained by the availability of the people needed to build and maintain them: electricians, installers, technicians, mechanics and engineers are already in short supply in numerous member states.

In brief EEA modelling estimates approximately 951,000 direct jobs in the EU’s clean energy technology sector in 2023, more than twice as many as in 2010. Wind power accounted for approximately 273,500 direct employees, while solar photovoltaic had 227,300. The scenarios analysed by the EEA point to more than 500,000 jobs in each of the two sectors by 2030. A separate Commission estimate indicates a need for approximately 130,000–145,000 additional skilled workers solely for installing wind turbines and solar panels by 2030. Twenty-one member states report a shortage of building electricians, while 20 report a shortage of installers and pipe fitters. Shortages are also widespread among technicians, mechanics and engineers. The EEA warns that the labour shortage has become an obstacle comparable to financing, project permitting and supply-chain vulnerabilities.

The EEA report “Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition” examines the workforce in wind power, solar photovoltaics, heat pumps and batteries and seeks to answer a question that is becoming increasingly important for European energy policy: are there enough people to build the transition the EU has planned?

Data for 2023 already show an industry far larger than at the beginning of the previous decade. The modelling conducted for the report estimates approximately 951,000 people directly employed in clean energy technologies, with average annual growth of 5.3% since 2010. Their share of total employment remains relatively small, at approximately 0.6%, but the number of jobs more than doubled during a period in which, for example, employment in Europe’s chemical industry remained almost unchanged.

Wind power is currently the largest employer among the technologies analysed. Approximately 273,500 people worked directly in the sector in 2023, and nearly 77% of them were involved in operations, maintenance and other services that continue throughout a wind farm’s operating life. Solar photovoltaics followed with 227,300 direct employees, distributed across the operation of existing capacity, the construction and installation of new projects, manufacturing and research activities.

This structure explains why expanding energy capacity creates labour demand long after construction has ended. A turbine or photovoltaic park requires teams for maintenance, monitoring, repairs, production management and connection to the energy system, turning some of the jobs created through investment into longer-term activity.

For 2030, the scenarios developed in the report indicate much stronger growth. The EEA estimates that the number of direct employees could exceed 500,000 in wind power and could surpass the same threshold in solar photovoltaics. In the case of wind power, the methodology links the installed capacity anticipated for 2030 to the employment intensity observed in recent years and produces an estimate of approximately half a million jobs.

Other analyses used by the EEA arrive at different figures because they measure different segments of the industry, but the direction is the same. WindEurope estimates approximately 483,000 jobs in the EU in 2030, of which 223,000 would be direct, while SolarPower Europe scenarios indicate between 680,000 and 1.4 million direct and indirect solar jobs by 2028. The EEA warns that these figures cannot be compared mechanically, as some include only direct employment while others cover the entire supply chain.

One of the most relevant estimates of the scale of the challenge comes from a DG Employment study cited in the report. Installing wind turbines and photovoltaic panels would require approximately 130,000–145,000 additional skilled workers in construction, services and transport by 2030. This is the additional workforce needed to deploy the infrastructure, not an estimate of total employment in the two industries.

The problem is that many of the professions required are already among the hardest to recruit for in Europe. The EEA analysed 15 key occupations for the value chains of the four technologies and compared the results with European Labour Authority data on labour shortages and surpluses.

Building electricians represent the most widespread shortage: 21 of the 27 member states report a lack of personnel. Only Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg indicate a balanced situation, while Finland, Portugal and Spain report a surplus.

For installers and pipe fitters, 20 member states report a shortage. Denmark, Latvia and Luxembourg have a balanced situation, while Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain report a surplus. Shortages also persist among mechanics and electrical fitters, electrical engineering technicians, machinery mechanics, construction workers and engineers.

These are precisely the occupations that turn an energy investment from a project on paper into a functioning installation. In solar, electricians handle design, grid connection and technical supervision, while physical installation also requires construction and roofing workers. In the heat-pump sector, installers must combine skills in plumbing, electricity, refrigeration and heating systems.

In wind power, the shortage is becoming even more specialised. Sector analyses cited by the EEA anticipate a shortage in 2030 of approximately 7,000 blade technicians, more than 6,000 field engineers and approximately 5,000 technicians for pre-assembly and commissioning activities. At the same time, the industry needs electricians, welders, maintenance technicians and specialists capable of working offshore.

Differences between member states are significant. Bulgaria reports shortages in 13 of the 15 key occupations analysed, Malta in 12, and France and Italy in 11 each. At the other end of the scale, Finland, Portugal and Spain report a shortage in just one key occupation and have a high number of professions with a surplus.

These data show where workers are available, but they do not automatically solve the mobility problem. An electrician in surplus in one region cannot immediately be moved to another country, while differences in qualifications, certification, language, salaries and working conditions may limit mobility. The EEA therefore links the shortage to the need for skills recognition and training programmes that enable workers to move more easily between technologies and member states.

The report also emphasises the reuse of existing skills. Many occupations in fossil-fuel industries have a technical foundation similar to those required in clean tech. Experience in offshore oil and gas can be used in offshore wind, gas power-plant installers can be retrained for heat pumps, and Poland already has a programme preparing miners to become wind-turbine technicians.

Training nevertheless remains uneven. European Working Conditions Survey data used by the EEA show that only 44% of workers in construction associated with the technologies analysed had participated in training during the previous 12 months, compared with 72% in operations, 68% in research and development, and 58% in manufacturing. Construction is precisely the segment where some of the most serious shortages are concentrated.

The EU has begun building a common training infrastructure through the Net-Zero Industry Academies. The Solar Academy aims to train or retrain 100,000 workers by 2027 and is also testing common standards for installers, in a network that includes training providers from Finland, France, Germany, Poland and Romania. The Battery Academy had already trained more than 67,000 people by March 2024, while a European wind academy is in preparation.

The EEA report thus shows that the labour-force issue is moving from the realm of social policy to the centre of industrial strategy. Europe can finance new factories, simplify permits and increase demand for clean energy, but projects will advance only to the extent that enough people are available to install, connect, operate and repair the technologies.

EEA Report 08/2026 analyses wind power, solar photovoltaics, heat pumps and batteries and uses economic and employment data, the European Working Conditions Survey and information on occupational shortages in member states. The detailed modelling does not include Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta where data availability does not allow sufficiently robust estimates.

The projections for 2030 are scenarios built on anticipated capacity and historical employment intensity. They indicate the possible scale of labour demand and do not represent a promise that the stated number of jobs will be created regardless of developments in investment, policy or the market.