In scientific research and in the media, it is increasingly rightly argued that the development of onshore and offshore wind energy will positively affect the state of the Polish economy. It is difficult to disagree with this optics, taking into account statistics for both Poland, Europe and the world. All the more so because investments are constantly being built on the Vistula to serve the wind energy industry. Another will soon enter the implementation phase in Szczecin.
Factory in Szczecin – an example
At the beginning of September, according to the editors of the Gospodarkamorska.pl portal, the West Pomeranian Voivode issued a decision on a permit for the construction of a plant for the production of farm elements necessary for the implementation of wind farms. The investor is the Spanish company Windar Renovables. The factory will be built on the territory of the Szczecin and Swinoujscie Seaport Authority, specifically in the area of the Debicki Canal in the Szczecin port.
The factory is to produce foundation structures for wind turbine towers and elements of the towers themselves – that is, critical elements of virtually every wind power plant. The plant should begin operations in 2026, and will employ at least 400 people. Thus, this is yet another of the many examples of how green energy affects the Polish economy in a positive way.
How many jobs will wind energy bring?
A study conducted some time ago by the International Renewable Energy Agency showed that in Poland the RES industry – taking into account only full-time employment contracts – employs approx. 57,600 people. This is a record for Europe, and the potential for green energy development raises hopes for at least tens of thousands more jobs. These forecasts are all the more likely when global trends are taken into account.
The aforementioned International Agency reports that at the end of 2021 there were about 12.7 million people employed in the RES sector worldwide, which meant an increase of 600-700 thousand people over the year. This rate of employment growth in the green energy sector has continued since at least 2012, and there are many indications that it will accelerate further in the coming years.