In Baden-Württemberg there are currently more than 250 market participants (companies, service providers, public authorities, institutes, etc.) which are active in wind energy (onshore and offshore) and which employ a total of more than 12,000 full-time equivalents (FTE). They generate a turnover of more than €3 billion. The regional focus is on the Stuttgart region and the sectoral focus is on research and development (R&D), plant construction and its suppliers, operators/installers and project development.
In recent years, the expansion of wind energy has collapsed in Baden-Württemberg, as it has in Germany as a whole. It fell from just under 400 megawatts per year in 2017 to a quarter in the following year and was just 21 megawatts in 2019.
Further development of the value added by wind energy is strongly dependent on expansion targets and general conditions
Three scenarios were modelled in the study to forecast the added value of onshore wind energy. In the "Climate Protection" scenario, the study shows that an expansion of wind energy in Baden-Württemberg from around 1.5 gigawatts today to 6.3 gigawatts by 2035 could create up to 5,000 new full-time jobs and increase the turnover of market participants by 28 percent. The "65% target" scenario - which is based on the German government's current expansion target for 2030 of around 4.7 gigawatts, to which Baden-Württemberg should make a corresponding contribution - would still create around 2,000 new full-time jobs by 2035 and lead to 13% higher sales. If, however, the limited expansion of wind energy in Baden-Württemberg in recent years continues, the "expansion obstacle" scenario threatens a decline in value added and the loss of know-how; one in ten of the current 12,000 full-time jobs in this actually sustainable sector could be lost, with a drop in turnover of around 40%.
"With our study, we show how strongly the development of value added and the number of jobs in wind energy onshore and offshore in Baden-Württemberg depends on the expansion targets and the political framework conditions", says wind:research managing director Dirk Briese. "With its strengths in research and development, the medium-sized industrial location of Baden-Württemberg has good chances to profit from the value-added potential of wind energy".
The employment study is supported by WAB within the framework of the "German Inland Campaign". WAB has been implementing the "WAB-Inn2Power German Inland Campaign" since summer 2019. The campaign makes it clear that companies in the wind supply industry need a strong domestic market in order to develop their export potential and create additional jobs in the long term.
Further information on this study can be found here (in German).
About wind:research
By wind:research, a brand of trend:research – one of the leading German market research institutes in the energy industry – the institute's competences and experiences in the offshore wind sector are bundled in an own branch office in Bremerhaven, Germany. wind:research focuses on analysing potentials in the growth market of onshore and offshore wind energy.
Contact
wind:research GmbH
Tel.: 0421 / 43 73 0-0
Fax: 0421 / 43 73 0-11
E-Mail: info@windresearch.de
www.windresearch.de
About WAB
Bremerhaven-based WAB is the nationwide contact partner for the offshore wind industry in Germany and the leading business network for onshore wind energy in the north-west region. The association fosters the production of “green” hydrogen from wind energy. It comprises some 250 smaller and larger businesses as well as institutes from all sectors of the wind industry, the maritime industry as well as research. www.wab.net
Contact
Hans-Dieter Sohn | Senior Communications and Marketing Manager WAB e.V. | +49 173 2382802 | hans.sohn @ wab.net
