IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS You may also like

- Preface
Tracking Potential Renewable Energy Jobs in - ASEAN and the EU in handling the
ASEAN COVID-19 outbreak: A comparative study
between supranational organizations
Henny S.D. Nugrahani, Akbar Azmi, Graha
Christi et al.
To cite this article: Amira Bilqis et al 2023 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 1199 012032
- Leadership as the Main Driving Factor of
Regional Sustainable Development
Cooperation: A Case Study of ASEAN
Tuna Ecolabelling (ATEL)
Andre Notohamijoyo, Martani Huseini,
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Hendra Sugandhi et al.

This content was downloaded from IP address 202.80.219.235 on 30/08/2023 at 03:46

2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

Tracking Potential Renewable Energy Jobs in ASEAN

Amira Bilqis1, Alnie Demoral1, Silvira Ayu Rosalia1, Dr Zulfikar Yurnaidi1, Rika
Safrina1, Diah Retno Yuniarni1
1
ASEAN Centre for Energy, Soemantri Brodjonegoro II Building, 6th fl., Directorate
General of Electricity, Jl. HR. Rasuna Said Blok X-2, Kav. 07-08, Jakarta 12950,
Indonesia

Corresponding author: abilqis@aseanenergy.org

Abstract. Job creation in renewable is among the most significant social impacts of higher
renewable penetration to the energy mix, but it also poses a challenge for countries to adapt to
the changing work landscape amidst the energy transition. Hence mapping the distribution and
projecting renewable employment in the coming years in ASEAN will be crucial as it would
support the policy ramifications, job market, and economy. This research adopted data and
scenarios trajectory from the 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) from 2020 up to 2050 with
four technologies: Solar PV Utility-Scale, Onshore Wind, Hydropower Dam, and Geothermal.
It is limited to three job types: manufacturing, construction, installation, and operation and
maintenance. The data was processed using Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP)
software. The findings indicate that ASEAN's renewable energy (RE) jobs will reach between
3.9 – 5.5 million, with Vietnam and Indonesia dominating the share. Meanwhile, job share
growth based on the technology is most robust in hydropower and solar. As new plants are
established during the early years, job creation will be relatively higher, especially in
manufacturing and construction. Further refinement of methodologies and continuous data
improvement is vital to allow the better projection of the region's workforce on energy
transition and provide opportunities for better coordination, planning, and investment to
improve employment outcomes.

Keywords: Renewable energy, Green Jobs, ASEAN, Employment, Energy Transition

1. Background

Towards the era of the green economy, renewable energy (RE) demand is projected to increase, and at
the same time, there will be reduced capacity of the fossil fuel industry. One of the strategic
approaches for ASEAN to meet its growing demand while considering sustainability is to implement
an unprecedented RE target as mandated by the ASEAN Action Plan for Energy Cooperation
(APAEC) Phase II: 2021 – 2025: 23% renewable share in Total Primary Energy Supply and 35% on
installed capacity by 2025 [1].
Among many advantages, renewable job creation played a significant role in both social and
economic sense by increasing the demand for new labour markets, which is green jobs, through
absorbing human resources and improving economic activities. Green jobs are those that contribute to
preserving or restoring the environment, either in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and
construction, or in emerging green sectors such as RE.

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

Globally, projections concerning energy jobs by 2050 have been identified in various scenarios,
such as net-zero-focused energy sector jobs expected to increase by 9 million jobs, specifically in
renewable energy with 42 million [2], [3]. Based on the studies, further understanding of the
employment trend is needed to anticipate better the impediment to workforce planning related to
renewable energy. Building upon that background, it is imperative to have a region-specific renewable
job creation projection study to identify location and technology mapping distribution and recognise
the wider social impact of these job opportunities.
This study attempts to capture a holistic view of the pathway for mapping the energy sector
workforce and an overview of employment trends at the regional level through 2050. The study
focuses on direct employment, including manufacturing, construction, and installation (C&I) and
operations and maintenance (O&M). The analysis of the existing job creation factors is fully curated in
the 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) as an ASEAN blueprint for accelerating the energy transition.
The study scope attempt to revamp the existing job creation study [4].
Compared to the similar studies, this study focused its substance on the projection of renewable energy
jobs and plausible recommendations specifically for the ASEAN Member States (AMS) with the data
derived officially from the 10 AMS (Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) governments. Meanwhile, the scope and subject of
other studies are mostly broad. For example, studies conducted on a global scale with relatively older
data may not necessarily depict the existing regional energy landscape during COVID-19 and volatile
energy prices due to war [5]. On the other hand, there are also studies not specific to renewable jobs
instead overall green jobs, which may include various jobs from different sectors such as agriculture
and other sub-energy industries such as energy efficiency [6], [7].
With the emerging energy transition, the region must look ahead and strengthen supporting
infrastructure with the impending demand for an energy workforce. This finding aims to reference
governments, educational institutions, and the workforce to analyse the labour market for recruitment
mechanisms, curriculum improvement, and skills requirements to avoid skills shortages. Expectantly,
this study would trigger continuity and consistent measure in quantifying ASEAN energy jobs in all
processes and sectors to maximise the benefits of the region's abundant energy resources.

2. Methodology

This research limits the projection to direct renewable jobs up to 2050. The data utilised in this study
is primarily curated from the AEO7 combined with the latest data from the ASEAN Energy Database
System (AEDS) [8], [9]. Direct jobs are linked to the primary activities of generating a given amount
of capacity. The model was adopted from the study titled “Calculating Global Energy Sector Jobs”
with complementary and updated factors from a study titled “Job creation during the global energy
transition towards 100% renewable power system by 2050” [5], [10].
Due to data paucity, this study tracks only four types of renewable technologies: 1) Solar PV
Utility-Scale, 2) Onshore Wind, 3) Hydropower, and 4) Geothermal, and three types of jobs: 1)
manufacturing, 2) construction and installation (C&I), and 3) operation and maintenance (O&M).
Some examples of these job types include manufacturing wind turbine blades, solar PV installation,
and geothermal maintenance. In addition, the selection of the four renewable technologies is due to the
high potential and share in the ASEAN energy installed capacity energy mix.
The model was processed using the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) to project the year-
on-year (YoY) RE job creation. The current model tracks employment from RE through gross job
addition and is yet to include the job loss due to decommissioning of fossil fuel and renewable end-of-
life in two periods, 2025 (the current target year for renewable energy share in the installed capacity
set in APAEC 2016 – 2025) and 2050 (most targets for the net-zero were set at this year). The model
is built by calculating the installed capacity against four factors (See Figure 1).

2
 2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

Figure 1. Formulas to calculate renewable jobs projection

Source: Reproduced by authors from Rutovitz, et al [5]

Installed power capacity – number of added installed power capacity utilised in the analysis is
based on the AEO7 projection. Three of its scenarios are evaluated: the Baseline Scenario, which
assumes no policy intervention including on RE; ASEAN Member States Targets Scenario (ATS),
which assumes implementation of national targets on RE and energy efficiency; and APAEC Target
Scenario (APS), which accelerates the RE and energy efficiency efforts to reach the aspirational
regional targets. (See Table 1).

Table 1. Added Renewable Installed Power Capacity

Installed 2020 2025 2030 2040 2050
Capacity Base
Year BS ATS APS BS ATS APS BS ATS APS BS ATS APS
(GW)
Hydropo
wer
58 18 20 26 36 41 53 78 87 107 149 162 196
Geother-
mal
4 1 3 5 3 7 10 5 16 20 11 33 35
Solar 23 9 16 17 18 26 30 41 45 55 52 53 71
Wind 3 1 2 3 2 4 4 3 5 6 4 7 9
Total 88 30 41 51 59 78 98 126 153 188 217 255 311
BS: Baseline Scenario, ATS: ASEAN Member States Target Scenario, APS: APAEC Target Scenario
Source: Authors’ compilation

Employment Factor (EF) – number of jobs per unit of installed capacity divided into
manufacturing, C&I and O&M (See Table 2). Manufacturing and C&I represent the number of jobs to
generate a unit of power capacity over the plant’s lifetime, particularly in the start-up phase.
Manufacturing could include imported shares as limited production occurs, whilst C&I and O&M are
assumed to absorb all local workforces. Duration of construction is also considered based on each
technology, with solar having a one-year period whilst the others are constructed over two years.
O&M is interpreted as jobs to run operational activities and maintain standardised conditions for a
power plant to generate capacity for a relatively long period. The unit used for O&M is jobs per
capacity of power generation.
Table 2. Employment Factor
Solar Wind Hydropower Geothermal
Manufacturing 6.7 4.7 3.5 3.9
C&I 13.0 3.2 7.4 6.8
O&M 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.4
Source: Authors' compilation

Decline Factor (DF) – gradual deceleration of job creation due to increasing energy industry
experience and volume, leading to the maturation of technologies over time (See Table 3). Two
learning factors are adopted to reflect the decline: Capital Expenditures (Capex) used in
Manufacturing and C&I, and Operational Expenditures (Opex) used in O&M. The YoY factors were

3
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

compiled and interpolated based on the cost assumptions developed by Lappeenranta-Lahti University
of Technology (LUT) for the Energy System Transition model [10].

Table 3. Declining Factor

DF 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Capex Opex Capex Opex Capex Opex Capex Opex Capex Opex Capex Opex Capex Opex
Solar 0.445 0.347 0.554 0.347 0.627 0.538 0.677 0.595 0.713 0.642 0.742 0.682 0.764 0.711
Wind 0.080 0.080 0.152 0.160 0.200 0.200 0.228 0.240 0.248 0.240 0.268 0.280 0.280 0.280
Hydropo
wer- 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
power
Geo-
0.053 0.000 0.101 0.000 0.149 0.000 0.191 0.000 0.234 0.000 0.273 0.000 0.312 0.000
thermal
Source: Authors' compilation

Regionality Factor (RF) or regional employment multiplier – lower average labour intensity and
cost to produce a unit of output (productivity) associated with lower GDP per capita than in OECD
countries (See Table 4).
Table 4. Regional Factor
Year 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
RF 2.20 1.93 1.77 1.63 1.58 1.52
Source: Authors' compilation

Local Manufacturing Factor – consider renewable energy manufacturers are still growing in
Southeast Asia, there are certain import proportions that contribute to the market. Consequently, the
factor will eliminate employment not absorbed by local labours in an optimistic scenario of 90% for
local manufacturing.

3. Results and Discussion

The study shows that ASEAN Member States (AMS) are projected to generate renewable jobs as high
as 1 million jobs by 2025 and reach 5.5 million by mid-century in the APS. Compared to similar
studies, the results were differentiated based on each scenario of RE penetration, country, and
technology specifically tailored to Southeast Asia’s existing data.
The Baseline Scenario shows the lowest job creation among the three scenarios, at 654 thousand by
2025 and 3.9 million by 2050. ATS shows a forecasted 857 thousand jobs by 2025 and 4.5 million by
2050. A comparison was also made in each scenario, where APS jobs provide 39% more jobs in 2025
and 29% more in 2050 compared to Baseline Scenario.
Overall, APS shows the highest job generation both in 2025 and 2050. The differences per each
scenario is mostly due to a higher share of renewable installed capacity with the most optimistic at
APS. Thus, similar to the projection trend in capacity added, job creation shows higher demand during
the early years, especially in manufacturing, construction, and installation, as new plants are being
established. It is due to ASEAN incline to have labour-intensive supply chains where informal work is
prominent compared to machinery. The study estimates that high-skilled occupations related to all
renewable energy technologies will be in demand since we expect most AMS renewable jobs to get
higher.

3.1. Technology in-focus

Based on the AEO7, RE capacity addition is projected to grow more than three times from the 2020
level except for Geothermal, which advanced nine times [8]. Meaning the existing policies at ATS
enable renewable projects to thrive. Specifically, Hydropower and Solar will account for the highest
share in all scenarios, meaning the job creation will also focus on these two technologies. With details

4
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

as follows, Hydropower will account for 67%, solar at 19%, Geothermal at 10%, and Wind at 3% by
2050.
Hydropower capacity addition forecasted to range from 18 GW to 26 GW by 2025, resulting in 115
thousand jobs and will continue to grow five times in the APS. Hydropower has been the backbone of
electricity supply in ASEAN, even for some Member States, namely Cambodia and Lao PDR,
Hydropower accounts the largest share of the total capacity mix. The model also estimates the number
will continue to grow by exploring the untapped potential within the country as demand continue to
rise It has contributed significantly to bilateral and multilateral cross-border electricity trading, such as
the Lao PDR, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore Power Integration Project (LTMS PIP) [11].
Singapore has successfully imported 100 MW of electricity from Hydropower in Lao PDR [12]. This
trend will continue to expand as the region aims to have ASEAN Power Grid, which includes
renewables [1].
Meanwhile, solar will generate a total of 321 thousand jobs in 2025 and will triple by mid-century.
The unprecedented growth of solar in the region started in 2018, and since then, it has gained
momentum to penetrate the power market. Besides solar potential areas are relatively distributed
across the region, enabling policies also improve solar to gain momentum [13].

Table 5. Renewable job creations projection in 2025 and 2050 based on technology
Job creations 2025 2050
(Cumulative
Thousand Jobs) BS ATS APS BS ATS APS
Hydropower 424 453 593 2.829 3.061 3.683
Geothermal 39 64 115 189 496 549
Solar PV* 176 301 321 785 851 1.053
Wind 16 39 46 95 147 178
Total 655 857 1.076 3.898 4.555 5.463
*Utility-scale
Source: Authors' calculation

Despite wind also having a similar growth trend as solar, unlike in Europe, ASEAN only has 1.5%
of the land area for the conventional wind turbine [14]. In addition, high-quality resources are not
heavily distributed as a result limits the commercial development potential namely in Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Brunei [13]. Redefining the wind power technology used by AMS and among others by
utilising Low Wind Speed Power (LWSP) and focus to utilize the resources at utmost potential areas
could be an option to enhance the job potential in wind.
In other words, Hydropower and Solar PV forecasted to dominate the power sector capacity mix
and job creation. However, the study identified that some jobs share may be unsustainable as it
embodies jobs in manufacturing, where advanced technology continues to be explored and C&I, as it
is one time. Consequently, it would involve less advanced tasks and could be filled with low to
medium-educated employees [15], [16].

3.2. Country in-focus

Each AMS has a unique variable (policy, resource potential, etc.) that contributes to a variety of
renewable development and technology appetite. For example, Singapore highly promotes floating
solar farms due to limited land areas and would allow dual use of water surface areas, while Vietnam
put offshore wind as the centre of energy transition since the geographical location exposed greatly to
the strong winds of the north-east monsoon resulting in the highest technical potential in the region
with 338 GW [17], [18].

5
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

Table 6. Renewable job creations projection in 2025 and 2050 based on country
Job creations 2025 2050
(Cumulative
Thousand Jobs)
BS ATS APS BS ATS APS

Brunei 0.02 1.73 1.74 0.02 32.46 32.47

Cambodia 11.02 13.18 19.17 97.43 54.98 78.53
Laos 18.83 77.94 81.71 87.65 141.70 157.98
Indonesia 55.26 141.96 211.42 415.40 1.234,11 1.481,86
Malaysia 37.64 96.75 96.75 282.80 184.74 153.04
Myanmar 9.69 26.46 26.46 83.26 68.81 68.81
Philippines 94.76 108.86 228.80 395.08 928.16 897.20
Singapore 0.86 26.76 26.73 5.37 58.52 127.32
Thailand 66.02 120.50 135.93 471.52 540.95 790.70
Vietnam 360.46 243.12 247.10 2.059,11 1.310,83 1.674,77
Total 655 857 1.076 3.898 4.555 5.463
Source: Authors' calculation

Over half of all job additions based on the ASEAN regional target are located in Vietnam and
Indonesia. The study finds that Vietnam has the highest number of additional jobs between 2021 −
2050 in all scenarios, even accounting for 53% in the Baseline Scenario by mid-century. However, the
number will be fairly distributed across the region in ATS and APS, where Vietnam accounts for 29%
and 31%, respectively. Vietnam's huge jobs share, primarily due to rapid renewable development
owing to the enabling policies in recent years e.g., Feed-In-Tariffs (FiT). Consequently, Vietnam has
reached a lower Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), resulting in cost competitiveness with other
resources.
Indonesia will bring the greatest change if we oversee the potential of the ATS and APS. In both
periods, Indonesia's jobs almost tripled in ATS and quadrupled in APS compared to Baseline. Jobs
will most likely derive from the new installation of solar and geothermal O&M. With the abundance
and well-spread location of solar potential in Indonesia, the projection calculated that jobs related to
solar shall be supported with adequate standards of workers.
Overall, renewable energy jobs will be most likely to be more ubiquitous based on the higher
potential resources. Significant jobs addition also seen generated in the Philippines, Thailand, and
Singapore.

3.3. ASEAN Current Efforts

The ASEAN declaration on Promoting Green Jobs for Equity and Inclusive Growth was adopted at the
ASEAN Summit in 2018 marks the commitment of ASEAN leaders to bolster decent jobs which
reduce negative environmental impacts [19]. Before the declaration, some ASEAN Member States
(AMS) did several efforts where development is varied based on the existing knowledge and data
availabilities in the regional level. In 2014, Malaysia and the Philippines had green job mapping
studies available [20], [21]. For the Philippines, Green Jobs Act was also established to strengthen its
commitment to tap the jobs opportunity [22]. Meanwhile, Indonesia has appointed national-level
government institutions to promote and develop green jobs and skills. On the other hand, Singapore
and Thailand provided several relevant programmes.
ASEAN and ILO have worked on the establishment of a policy framework to support the green
jobs taken up, which is divided into three broad policy areas namely: i) creating demand for green
jobs, ii) enhancing supply for green jobs and iii) institutional arrangements [23]. Thus, this study
specifically provides guidance for both demand trajectory and identify where more jobs supply is
needed. Furthermore, to avoid skills shortage and provide renewable energy job security leveraging,
educational institutions, both formal and informal, as well as urban and rural areas, shall be at the core.

6
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

3.4. Skill levels

There is limited information from the existing models on what kind of skill levels are needed.
However, there is an initial study conducted by the International Labour Organization where only a
few integrated environmental sustainability and skills policies causing imbalances between skills
offered and skills needed [24]. The absence of information on major recruitment difficulties also
influences the required skills list. Additionally, measuring skills from experience would be irrelevant
as renewable energy is an emerging business finding experienced candidates would be difficult. This
poses risks for local labourers not being absorbed but businesses would tend to import skilled workers.
Assuming that typical jobs for the four technologies forecasted above are similar to those in
another region, such as Europe, higher-skilled roles are favoured in the initial stages, such as
technology innovation, however, as the environment develops lower-skilled labour will also increase
[25]. The job creation results above already consider the declining share of workers as technology
matures through automation. Thus, this paper identified that there would be a job decline at different
points per each technology. Conversely, there is also implication to the existing in-demand skills
where jobs require higher skillsets and multidisciplinary knowledge such as Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) knowledge. For example, O&M jobs for solar PV utilising
mobile applications or even artificial intelligence [26].
Another challenge for the region is that to be a competent candidate to apply for renewable energy
projects, experience requirements will be needed which will take the candidate five years or more. In
fact, most region’s projects are commissioning less than five years ago. To avoid importing talents
from abroad in massive numbers, it is imperative to equip domestic talents through conduct transfer of
skills from knowledgeable and experienced workers from region with expertise, such as Europe then
tailored to the lesson learned to the local projects.

3.5. Educational and Skills Building

The result of renewable job projections in ASEAN means the region shall adapt to the changes
brought by the workforce transition. Limited access and expertise to learn the needed skills for
renewable energy projects are among the region's challenges. It is also exacerbated with the existing
unemployment issue, which reaches 5.4%, higher by 1.5%-points from the 2016 level [27]. Thus,
stakeholders such as policymakers, companies, education institutions, and social partners shall take
necessary actions to provide theoretical knowledge and on-the-job training e.g., internship or
apprenticeships through face-to-face interaction or other innovative delivery of these curricula.
Currently, capacity building for potential workers in ASEAN is mostly done by renewable
companies that recognise the importance of investing and nurturing university students or young
professionals for generational sustainability in a webinar, workshop, or short-course programme.
Companies tend to re-train their existing workforce instead of hiring new people. Therefore,
governments, in parallel, should also transform their educational institutes and modify existing courses
which will lead to higher standards of candidates.
Higher education has been recognised as an essential role in educating and be part of the
sustainability efforts [28]. In addition to incorporating sustainability principle to these institutions'
strategy and communication approach of curricula, specific major related to renewable energy in
university within the region also needs to integrate the cutting-edge knowledge of the fast-changing
renewable energy development. It is important for this generation to understand both fossil fuel and
renewable energy dynamics to bolster the energy transition. However, the fact that current major both
in undergraduate and master programme in university related to renewable energy still limited in
ASEAN.

4. Recommendation and Way Forward

The study concludes that energy transition, specifically in the unprecedented growth of renewables,
will potentially bring an economic spurt through direct renewable employment and, at the same time,
also challenges to equip and mobilise a large talent pool with the right in-demand skills. This provides

7
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

opportunity for ASEAN to redirect its economy and ambition to be a single market towards
development of production base for RE. With the recent wake of energy security and supply chain,
such strategy would benefit its communities. Thus, having a high-quality workforce would be
imperative.
To create further enabling environments for higher RE penetration, developing a people-centred
transition plan should be at the core of this transitional plan. To enable such an establishment, there
are several refinements needed. Methodologies and continuous data improvement would allow better
projection and profiles to portray the region's workforce on energy transition and to overcome labour
force-related barriers. Accounting jobs from fuel and transmissions (especially ASEAN aiming to be
interconnected through ASEAN Power Grid and ASEAN Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline), and job losses
from fossil fuel and decommissioning of RE projects would provide a more comprehensive result. In
addition, determining factors for every direct job created in the renewable sector will provide a holistic
approach as additional direct jobs create additional induced jobs in other sectors of the economy.
Induced jobs result from employees in the RE sector and supply chain spending their income on
buying goods and services, thus triggering more production and the creation of more jobs.
Furthermore, considering the wider range of renewable technology's life cycle, including waste
management and circularity of renewable parts, related jobs could also be included. Similarly,
equipping the model with gender dimension by complementing the data with the proportion of gender
in the workforce will be crucial as well towards inclusivity [29]–[31]. Further, sensitivity analysis that
covers the various levels of RE penetration based on policy actions could strengthen the analysis.
In parallel, there are also recommendations to move forward:
• Arrange a detailed inventory pertaining to the energy transition labour market, such as skills
profiles, demographics, locations, and current and potential employers, which aim to provide
baseline information and assess future needs. Thereby allowing potential workers to be
informed about the skill needed and determining re-training or additional education needed.
This also could be the basis for developing a qualification framework and competency
standards.
• Identify the regional and national employment roadmap or strategy covering skills
development for renewable jobs. The inventory will help to map the job requirements and
pinpoint skills shortages in both direct and indirect jobs, as well as technical and non-technical
jobs.
• Continuous certification and standardisation reflecting the needs of and trends in the industries
should be carried out to establish and maintain the benchmark for skills development. Take
into account the technical and non-technical skills across the whole body of knowledge.
• Refurbish educational programmes and curriculum to be more relevant and match the skills
needed in the field. Identifying courses, majors in university, and certification required would
also be imperative when deciding to revamp curricula. Boost the innovative delivery of
technical knowledge and on-the-job training by collaborating and championing educational
institutions and companies. Reskilling existing energy experts also play a key role in
rethinking the future of energy in renewables.
• Enhance further local content requirement (LCR) policies for renewable energy technologies
while combined with other labour and industrial policies could increase the in-country share of
renewable investments and boost local employment.
• Provide enabling environments for women to be competitive and work in renewable energy
projects.
• Remove the overall uncertainty from renewable energy sector as it will drive people to feel
secure enough to dedicate their careers to these jobs potential.

5. Conclusion
The paper presented the overview of future renewable jobs creation projection trend by calculating the
renewable installed power capacity against employment factor, decline factor, and regionality factor

8
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

through three scenarios of renewable penetration capacity in 2025 and 2050. The renewable energy
job in the coming year found to be growing with potential up to 5.5 million new jobs. As the
deployment of renewable continue to grow, the study find that Vietnam and Indonesia will have higher
percentage of these jobs and hydropower and solar would be dominating the job share. Therefore,
gearing up towards higher renewable energy jobs and revamping curricula for educational institutions
alike will be the key to maximising economic benefits of higher renewable penetration. Eradicating
policy uncertainty from renewable energy markets will also drive potential workers to dedicate their
career to the sector. To better project and anticipate this transitional plan, a call for methodology and
data improvement would be imperative.

Acknowledgment
This study is part of the 7th of ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO7) supported by the Ministry of
Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through ASEAN-German Energy Programme. The findings herewith
do not necessarily reflect the views of its funders.

References
[1] APAEC Drafting Committee, ‘ASEAN Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation Phase II: 2021-
2025’. 2020, [Online]. Available: https://aseanenergy.org/asean-plan-of-action-for-energy-
cooperation-apaec-phase-ii-2021-2025/.
[2] IEA, ‘Net Zero by 2050 A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector’, 2021. [Online]. Available:
www.iea.org/t&c/.
[3] IRENA, ‘Global Renewables Outlook: Energy transformation 2050’, 2020. [Online].
Available: https://www.irena.org/publications/2020/Apr/Global-Renewables-Outlook-2020.
[4] M. Merdekawati, B. Suryadi, A. Bilqis, S. N. Firdausi, and J. K. Hapsari, ‘Job Creation
Towards Achieving the Regional Renewable Energy Target’, Jakarta, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://aseanenergy.org/job-creation-towards-achieving-the-regional-renewable-
energy-target/.
[5] J. Rutovitz, E. Dominish, and J. Downes, ‘Calculating Global Energy Sector Jobs 2015 -
Methodology Update 2015. Prepared for Greenpeace International by the Institute for
Sustainable Futures. University of Technology Sydney, Sydney’, 2015. [Online]. Available:
https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/43718/1/Rutovitzetal2015Calculatingglobalenergys
ectorjobsmethodology.pdf.
[6] S. A. Sharpe and C. M. Martinez-Fernandez, ‘The Implications of Green Employment: Making
a Just Transition in ASEAN’, Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 13, p. 7389, Jul. 2021, doi:
10.3390/su13137389.
[7] C.-K. Wye, E. N. A. Bahri, I. Yussof, and W. Mao, ‘How are energy and employment related?
An analysis in ASEAN-5 open economies’, Stud. Econ. Econom., vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 201–223,
Jul. 2022, doi: 10.1080/03796205.2022.2143884.
[8] ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), ‘The 7th ASEAN Energy Outlook’, Jakarta, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://aseanenergy.org/work/the-7th-asean-energy-outlook/.
[9] ACE, ‘ASEAN Energy Database System (AEDS)’. https://aeds.aseanenergy.org/ (accessed
Oct. 13, 2021).
[10] M. Ram, A. Aghahosseini, and C. Breyer, ‘Job creation during the global energy transition
towards 100% renewable power system by 2050’, Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change, vol. 151, p.
119682, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2019.06.008.
[11] ACE, ‘ASEAN Power Updates 2021’, 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://aseanenergy.org/asean-power-updates-2021/.
[12] Energy Market Authority (EMA) Singapore, ‘Singapore commences first renewable energy
electricity import via regional multilateral power trade’, Jun. 23, 2022.
[13] N. Lee, F. Flores-Espino, R. Oliveira, B. Roberts, T. Bowen, and J. Katz, ‘Exploring

9
2nd ASEAN International Conference on Energy and Environment IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1199 (2023) 012032 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1199/1/012032

Renewable Energy Opportunities in Select Southeast Asian Countries: A Geospatial Analysis

of the Levelized Cost of Energy of Utility-Scale Wind and Solar Photovoltaics’, 2020.
[Online]. Available: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/71814.pdf.
[14] ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and China Renewable Engineering Institute (CREEI),
‘Research on Applications of Low Wind Speed Power in ASEAN’, Jakarta, 2021. [Online].
Available: https://aseanenergy.org/research-on-applications-of-low-wind-speed-power-in-
asean/.
[15] Eurofound, ‘Energy scenario: Employment implications of the Paris Climate Agreement’,
2019. doi: 10.2806/55596.
[16] A. de Pee, D. Pinner, O. Roelofsen, K. Somers, E. Speelman, and M. Witteveen,
‘Decarbonization of industrial sectors: the next frontier’, McKinsey Co., no. June, p. 68, 2018.
[17] World Bank Group, ‘Offshore Wind Development Program: Offshore Wind Roadmap for
Vietnam’, Washington D. C., 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36249.
[18] M. Merdekawati, S. B. Supendi, and N. H. G. Vu, ‘Paving the way for wind energy prosperity
in Vietnam’, Eco Business, Jun. 23, 2022.
[19] ASEAN, ‘ASEAN Declaration on Promoting Green Jobs for Equity and Inclusive Growth of
ASEAN Community’. 2018, [Online]. Available: https://asean.org/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/ASEAN-Declaration-on-Promoting-Green-Jobs-for-Equity-and-
Inclusive-Growth-of-ASEAN-Community.pdf.
[20] International Labour Organization (ILO), ‘Green jobs mapping study in the Philippines’, 2014.
[Online]. Available: https://www.ilo.org/asia/publications/WCMS_240710/lang--en/index.htm.
[21] ILO, ‘Green jobs mapping study in Malaysia’, 2014. [Online]. Available:
https://www.ilo.org/asia/publications/WCMS_239640/lang--en/index.htm.
[22] Philippines, Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016. p. 10771.
[23] The ASEAN Secretariat and ILO, ‘Regional Study on Green Jobs Policy Readiness in
ASEAN’, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://asean.org/book/regional-study-on-green-jobs-
policy-readiness-in-asean/.
[24] International Labour Organization (ILO), ‘World Employment and Social Outlook 2018:
Greening with jobs’, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_628654/lang--
en/index.htm%0Ahttp://www.ilo.org/wesodata/?chart=Z2VuZGVyPVsiRmVtYWxlIiwiTWFs
ZSJdJnVuaXQ9Ik51bWJlciImc2VjdG9yPVsiQWdyaWN1bHR1cmUiXSZ5ZWFyRnJvbT0y
MDEwJmluY29tZT1bXSZpbmRpY2F0b3I9WyJlbXBsb3ltZ.
[25] Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE), ‘Employment and Social
Developments in Europe 2019’, 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8219.
[26] S. Rai-Roche, ‘How artificial intelligence will change solar O&M and asset management’, PV
Tech, Sep. 03, 2021.
[27] The ASEAN Secretariat, ‘The 2022 ASEAN SDG Snapshot Report’, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://www.aseanstats.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-2022-ASEAN-SDG-
Snapshot-Report.pdf.
[28] I. Žalėnienė and P. Pereira, ‘Higher Education For Sustainability: A Global Perspective’,
Geogr. Sustain., vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 99–106, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.geosus.2021.05.001.
[29] ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), ‘ASEAN RE-Gender Roadmap’, Jakarta, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://aseanenergy.org/asean-re-gender-roadmap/.
[30] T. B. Sumarno and A. Bilqis, ‘Accelerating RE Deployment in ASEAN: Gender
Mainstreaming Efforts’, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://aseanenergy.org/accelerating-re-
deployment-in-asean-gender-mainstreaming-efforts/.
[31] T. B. Sumarno and A. Bilqis, ‘Asean paves its way on the energy and gender nexus’, Eco
Business, Sep. 09, 2022.

10