Renewable energy jobs in Europe

Europe’s diversified geography has resulted in the use of a variety of renewable resources across the continent including, wind, biomass, solar, and moving water. Some countries in Europe use large amounts of renewable energy while others use very little, though this is usually dependent on the geographic make up of the land, for example whether it has high exposure to the sun, strong winds, moving matter, strong waves, or has forests.

Renewable energy sources in Europe

In Europe, both onshore and offshore wind developments are used, and countries with the largest installed wind capacities include Germany, and the United Kingdom. The UK has several wind farms located around the country. Europe’s largest onshore wind farm is the Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Farm in Romania, and the largest offshore wind farm in Europe is the London Array Wind Farm in the United Kingdom.

There are several European countries that use biomass to produce energy including Finland, and the United Kingdom. The use of biomass is prevalent throughout Finland as a result of the country’s large forest resources, the majority of which are boreal coniferous forests.

Europe’s largest operating biomass fuelled plant is the Drax Power Station, located in the United Kingdom, the plant burns a range of biomass, such as wood pellets, sunflower pellets, olive husk, and peanut shell husk.

Hydro energy is produced in countries across Europe, with hydroelectric facilities commonly found in mountainous areas, and near large bodies of water. In Italy, hydroelectric plants, the majority of which are pumped storage facilities, are commonly found in the north where there are many mountains and rivers, in areas such as Entracque, and Maccagno.

Germany is the world’s largest producer of solar energy, and one of the country’s largest photovoltaic plants is the Senftenberg Solarpark. Spain is also a large producer of solar energy, it receives the most hours of sunshine in Europe and is the location of Europe’s first commercial concentrating solar power plant, the PS10 Solar Power Plant, in Seville.

Careers in the European renewable energy industry

A range of jobs are available in Europe’s renewable energy industry, in the following construction and engineering disciplines:

• Electrical engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Marine engineering
• Wind development
• Civil engineering
• Project management
• Structural engineering
• Health, Safety & Environmental
  

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