It’s important to recognise that although the renewables industry has many opportunities for engineeers and other technically-qualified staff, it's by no means the exclusive domain of engineering graduates. In fact, only about a fifth of those employed in the industry are in technical occupations, with the main area of employment - almost half of the jobs - being across the full range of general management and professional positions. A further 10% or so occupy commercial, sales or administrative posts, with the remainder in craft work.

 

A big difference between renewable energy and conventional power generation is the greater emphasis on the fuel side of the energy equation – in other words, the need to take account of the specific problems associated with each fuel source. This is in stark contrast to conventional power stations, where the emphasis is on maximising the efficiency and availability of very expensive plant, involving cutting-edge engineering.

 

The technology of much renewable plant is almost rudimentary by comparison – the problems are more likely to involve agricultural, planning, marine issues, and so on, which makes for a more diverse range of challenges, often relating to the location of the plant. As a result, employment levels for operation and maintenance activities - which are essentially local in nature - are significantly higher than for coal or gas fired power stations.

 

Given that the renewables sector consists of lots of different technologies - some well-established, some in the early stages of development - it's difficult to generalise too much about the kind of work that's available. It's broadly true, however, that the majority of jobs are either with manufacturers or project development companies, both areas which are expected to continue to grow in the future. And of course, all these organisations need financial managers, legal advisers, human resource managers, etc.

 

Amongst the different kinds of schemes, wind projects still tend to dominate the jobs market, with most of the work on the manufacturing side. The future may see this steadying off, and the more labour intensive biomass projects starting to come forward. Of course, the nature of the jobs vary with technology, with the majority of wind projects employing people in construction, while operations activities dominate the biomass field. Other fields worth checking out are engineering services, consulting and marketing/trading activities.

 

London remains at the hub of the industry, although many companies have chosen to establish themselves in the Home Counties. Many project development companies are found close to their fuel source, for example in agricultural areas. And, of course, Scotland and the South West are home to a lot of the wind project companies. Generally speaking, however, you can be reasonably sure of finding a renewables company in pretty well every part of the country.

 

In sum, the key thing to remember is that this is a young industry, and companies will come and go. If you are prepared to be mobile, and to show yourself willing to build up experience, there will continue to be well-paid and interesting opportunities for many years to come.

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