As the credit crunch in Europe morphs into a sovereign debt crisis and on to full-blown currency crisis, it is easy to believe that the continent is something of a black hole when it comes to employment opportunities. But it’s not all doom and gloom and there’s life in the European jobs market in the form of renewable energy. Paul Flynn at Eurostaff examines how renewable energy, and the wind sector in particular, promises fresh opportunities for those with the right skill sets.
Almost lost among the pronouncements from Berlin about financial stability and growth pacts, fiscal compacts, Eurobonds and the profligacy of countries on the Eurozone periphery, was the announcement that, following Fukushima, Germany will be abandoning its nuclear power program.
For a country with little in the way of fossil fuel resources and a commitment to producing 100 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050, the move away from nuclear is a significant boost in what is already a leading renewable energy market. And Germany is not alone: Switzerland has also announced its intention to abandon nuclear, while even nuclear-heavy France is debating its nuclear future ahead of the 2012 presidential elections.
But the strength of the renewable sector in Europe pre-dates the Fukushima effect by some years. Legally binding national targets are in place, backed up by the EU Renewable Energy Directive of 2009. The financial crisis may be dominating the headlines, but behind the scenes industry is quietly getting on with putting in place the infrastructure and support services needed to meet those targets.
