European Environment Agency report on clean energy technologies in the European Union; employment growth and regional job shifts
Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition
EEA Report XX/2023 EEA report Clean energy technologies in the European Union Implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition
European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv 6 1050 Copenhagen K Denmark Tel.: +45 33 36 71 00 Web: eea.europa.eu Contact: eea.europa.eu/en/about/contact-us Legal notice The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the European Commission or other institutions of the European Union. Neither the European Environment Agency nor any person or company acting on behalf of the Agency is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this report. Publication policy To protect the environment, the European Environment Agency supports only digital publications. We do not print our publications. Copyright notice © European Environment Agency, 2026 This publication is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0). This means that it may be re-used without prior permission, free of charge, for commercial or non-commercial purposes, provided that the EEA is acknowledged as the original source of the material and that the original meaning or message of the content is not distorted. For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the European Environment Agency, permission may need to be sought directly from the respective rightsholders. More information on the European Union is available on https://european-union.europa.eu/index_en. EEA report 08/2026 ISBN: 978-92-9480-789-2 ISSN: 1977-8449 TH-01-26-037-EN-N doi:10.2800/4663174 Cover design: © European Environment Agency Cover image: © European Environment Agency Layout: Eworx/European Environment Agency
3 Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition Acknowledgements 5 Key messages 6 Executive summary 8 1 Introduction 12 2 Reshaping the EU′s industrial policy framework — balancing decarbonisation, competitiveness and a just transition 17 2.1 Supporting the EU clean energy transition — strategic, regulatory and financial foundations 17 2.2 A just transition to net-zero industry — social and territorial considerations 25 3 Europe′s clean-tech industry in transition 36 3.1 Overview of clean energy technologies 36 3.2 Economic significance and market growth 42 4 Employment and the workforce in the EU clean energy sector 52 4.1 Employment trends across clean technologies 52 4.2 A look into the future — employment projections 57 4.3 The geography of clean-tech jobs in Europe 60 4.4 The workforce across the value chain 64 4.5 Women in the clean-tech industry 68 4.6 Age composition of the clean-tech workforce 72 5 Occupational profiles, skills and job quality 76 5.1 Key job roles in the featured technologies across value chains 76 5.2 Labour shortages 83 5.3 Skills and training 85 5.4 Job quality 96 6 Conclusions and way forward 107 List of abbreviations 111 References 113 Contents
Contents 4 Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition Annex 1 Methodological annex 127 A.1.1 Approach for analysing employment in clean energy technologies 127 A.1.2 Approach for modelling employment projections 129 A.1.3 Approach for analysing the gender composition of the workforce 129 A.1.4 Approach to identifying key occupations 130 A.1.5 Approach to assessing relevant skills 131 A.1.6 Approach to assessing occupational shortages 131 A.1.7 Approach to assessing wages and salaries 132 A.1.8 Approach to analysing data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2024 133
5 Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition Acknowledgements The European Environment Agency (EEA) would like to thank its partners from the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EEA member countries and European Topic Centres), its Scientific Committee, the Directorate‑General (DG) for Environment, DG for Climate Action, DG for Regional and Urban Policy, DG Research and Innovation, DG for Energy, DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, the European Commission Joint Research Centre, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions (Eurofound) — in particular for its guidance on the analysis of European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) data — the European Labour Authority (ELA), the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for their valuable input at different stages of the project. It would also like to acknowledge the contributions and analytical support of Prognos AG and Ramboll Management Consulting under contract to the European Environment Agency, as well as all the participants in the expert workshops.
Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition 6 Key messages • Important progress has been made towards the European Union′s (EU′s) ambition to ensure access to clean, affordable and secure energy; the share of energy consumption from renewable sources has more than doubled since 2005. Against this backdrop, Europe′s transition to climate neutrality is reshaping parts of its industrial base and labour markets. • Among the clean energy technologies studied in this report, wind energy was the largest employer with an estimated 273,500 direct jobs in the EU in 2023. While manufacturing remains an important value chain segment for wind energy, around 77% of jobs are in downstream activities in the operations segment. • The solar photovoltaic (PV) energy technology sector directly employs over 227,000 people, with operations representing roughly half of the workforce and construction activities accounting for 36%. • The heat pump sector directly employs an estimated 80,100 workers, mostly in construction activities (65%). While heat pumps remain under-deployed across the EU, this technology holds strong growth potential. • The battery sector has experienced the fastest employment growth, with the number of jobs expanding rapidly between 2018 and 2023. With a total workforce of around 33,000 workers, most jobs are in manufacturing. Research and development (R&D) remains vital for next-generation battery technologies. • Despite ongoing industry uncertainty and challenges, employment in the clean-tech sector is expected to continue growing. By 2030, wind, solar PV, batteries and heat pumps could each employ hundreds of thousands of workers. • Across Member States, Germany accounts for the largest workforce in absolute terms in wind (125,000 jobs), solar PV (nearly 84,000 jobs) and batteries (12,300 jobs), but not the largest share relative to total employment in the country. Portugal, Spain and Italy account for the highest absolute number of heat pump related jobs. Hungary and Poland show the fastest employment growth in the battery sector. • The expansion of clean energy technologies does not automatically translate into inclusive labour markets. Women remain significantly under-represented, with a participation rate ranging from 26% in wind and batteries to 14% in the heat pump sector, highlighting the need to ensure that the clean energy transition delivers inclusive employment outcomes.
Key messages vii Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition • Workers aged 15-24 accounted for only 6-7% of the workforce across the value chains for wind, solar PV and heat pumps in 2023. Young people must be better integrated into the transition, particularly at a time when digitalisation and artificial intelligence are becoming critical enablers. • Skill shortages threaten the deployment of clean energy technologies; most Member States report gaps in critical installation‑ and construction‑related technical roles. Coordinated policy action is needed in to expand training, reskilling and workforce availability at scale. • Job quality must improve to attract and retain workers. The quality of jobs is currently variable in terms of remuneration, employment status and contractual stability, physical risks and worker health and safety. • A competitive and just clean-tech transition requires strong social and territorial cohesion to ensure that investments in skills, job quality and inclusion translate into high-quality, futureproof employment, while advancing Europe′s climate and competitiveness goals.
Clean energy technologies in the European Union — implications for quality jobs, skills and a just transition 8 Executive summary The European Union (EU) is rapidly transforming its economy to achieve climate neutrality, guided by legally binding emissions targets. At the same time, it faces ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, including recent tensions in the Middle East. As such, it is necessary to accelerate the EU′s clean transition and further reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels and vulnerability to energy price shocks. Europe′s transition to climate neutrality is reshaping its industrial and employment landscape, although clean energy technologies in the EU face structural challenges such as relatively high energy and labour costs, permitting and planning bottlenecks, and some limitations in access to critical raw materials (CRMs). In spite of this, clean tech is becoming an essential pillar of the transition, accounting for a growing share of economic activity and job creation. The evolving policy framework at the EU level signals a shift from a predominantly market-led industrial policy to a more integrated, strategic and state-supported approach. This shift is happening against a backdrop of intensifying global competition, shifting supply chains and growing geopolitical pressures. Crucially, Europe′s long‑term competitiveness and climate neutrality objective will depend on this kind of enabling policy and regulatory framework, innovation and investment. It will also rely on a skilled workforce and quality employment. Ensuring that workers have the right skills, that job quality keeps pace with expanding labour demand and that opportunities are accessible across regions and social groups are all key factors for a just transition. This study examines these dimensions by analysing employment trends, workforce composition, skill needs, labour shortages and job quality across four clean energy technologies (wind energy, solar photovoltaics (PV), heat pumps and batteries). The aim is to inform evidence‑based policymaking and the EU′s evolving industrial transition agenda — spanning the Net-zero Industry Act (NZIA), the Clean Industrial Deal (CID), the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act and AccelerateEU — and to support quality jobs, skills initiatives and just‑transition instruments. A fast‑growing economic and employment engine The clean energy sector has become an important and fast-growing part of the EU economy, employing close to one million people and generating EUR 138 billion in gross value added (GVA) in 2023. The EU maintains a strong position globally in the wind energy sector — particularly in offshore wind — in spite of increasing competition. Based on the modelling approach used in this report, in 2023 wind energy remained the largest employer of the four featured technologies, with approximately 273,500 direct jobs. Around 77% of employment in wind energy is concentrated in the operations