US wind jobs rise 20% in 2015 - AWEA

The number of jobs supported by the US wind energy sector has increased by 20% year-on-year to about 88,000 in 2015 for a new record, as wind became the country’s leading source of new generating capacity for the year.

In a report released on Tuesday, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says that the increase is mainly due to more wind project development and construction, requiring over 38,000 employees.

“With long-term, stable policy in place, and a broader range of customers now buying low-cost wind-generated electricity, our workforce can grow to 380,000 well-paying jobs by 2030,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA.

Apart from the 38,000-plus jobs in project development and construction, the US wind manufacturing sector supported over 21,000 jobs, shows the US Wind Industry Annual Market Report, Year Ending 2015. Also, there are now more than 8,800 wind turbine technicians in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Texas is the top US state when it comes to wind sector workforce, with more than 24,000 such jobs there.

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