1

Quantifying sustainable energy employment impacts

in Portugal The case for energy efficiency
Pereira, Guillermo: Energy for Sustainability - University of Coimbra; ISA Intelligent Sensing Anywhere,
S.A.+351915765056;g-pereira@live.com
ahovi, Nikola, PhDc; Energy for Sustainability - University of Coimbra; nikola.sahovic@gmail.com
Pereira da Silva, Patrcia, PhD; Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra; INESC Coimbra; patsilva@fe.uc.pt
Henriques, Carla, PhD; Polytechnic Institute of CoimbraISCAC; INESC Coimbra; chenriques@iscac.pt
Keywords: Energy efficiency, employment impacts, Portugal, industry survey, job creation.

Introduction
Portugal is in line with the European Union (EU) impetus towards a cleaner, more efficient, sustainable
energy system that delivers direct benefits, such as less investment needs and lower maintenance cost, as
well as a positive environmental impact through the reduction of fossil fuels use to produce energy. Apart
from these direct benefits of embracing energy efficiency (EE), the indirect benefit of employment creation
has also been emphasized in EU and national strategies as an advantage stemming from the promotion and
application of renewable energy (RE) and EE policies. Job creation impacts from RE and EE deployment in the
present Portuguese context are challenging to dissociate, because the broad-spectrum of current
Portuguese companies are operating in both market segments and do not provide disaggregated
information.

In spite of the acknowledged potential of a sustainable energy system to create jobs, the adequate
methodologies are yet to be developed. This gap in job impact measurement methodologies is elaborated
both at EU level (EC, 2012) and also in the Portuguese National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) (PT,
2013).

The development of this study to quantify the impacts of sustainable energy in Portugal was driven by the
national challenge of reduction of current unemployment rates alongside with the potential contribution of
EE and RE to support this decrease in the high unemployment rates registered since 2007. The results
presented through this paper focus on the EE impacts results (Pereira, 2014), further details on RE are
presented in ahovi (2014). Complementary studies and additional results can be found in (Silva et al, 2013)
and in (Oliveira et al, 2013).
Methodology
For the purpose of understanding and quantifying the employment impacts of EE and RE in Portugal a
research project was initiated in cooperation with the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN),
INESC Coimbra researchers and the Energy for Sustainability Initiative of the University of Coimbra. The data
collection was possible through the development of an online survey, which was disseminated throughout
the industry in order to obtain up-to-date information for estimating current job impacts.
The online survey developed was based on real examples of similar research carried out by the German
government (BMU, 2009) and the European Wind Energy Association (Blanco and Kjaer, 2009). The goal of
the survey was to obtain data which would facilitate assessment of direct job creation impact of RE
deployment and EE initiatives as well as to determine the types of jobs eventually created, and the short to
mid-term quantitative and qualitative employment outlook. The survey questionnaire was sent to more than
500 entities active in the RE and EE industry
1
.
The entities contacted on the scope of the EE industry data collection are described in the following table
(Table 1.1).

1
The term industry is used broadly, including the production of services and goods within the Portuguese
economy related with EE and RE across sectors
2

Table 1.1 Organizations for survey dissemination
Type Description No. of Organizations
Cluster Agency
Key competitiveness cluster for the Portuguese Energy field
organizations
2
. The cluster disseminated the survey via email and on
their website.
1
Energy Agencies
Local Agencies and National Agency on energy and environment.
Besides their contribution these organizations were asked to forward
the survey to their Associate Members.
27
ESCOs
Organization accredited by the Portuguese Directorate for Energy
and Geology (DGEG) as Energy Service Companies (ESCOs).
113
Energy for Sustainability external
council
Energy related companies that are part of the EfS external council
group.
17
Portuguese Energy Agency
(ADENE) registered companies
Organizations registered at the Portuguese Energy Agency (ADENE),
as focusing on more energy efficient windows, systems and glass
production.
142
Other companies on the Energy /
EE industry
Other contacts that were gathered from online databases,
recommended by APREN, and EfS Faculty.
74
Results
The reply rate of the EE entities achieved
reached 10% (i.e.: 34 entities on the EE
industry), and the survey was carried out
throughout October, 2013.

From the 34 organizations contributing to the
study working either on (1) EE only or (2) RE and
EE their regional scope is stronger in Portugal
with 71% of the entities operating only in the
national market (Graph 1.1), which was
considered a positive aspect considering the
focus of the study on analysing the impacts for
the Portuguese job market.

Based on the Nomenclature of Territorial Units
for Statistics (NUTS) II of Portuguese sub-
regions, the highest share of observations is
from the Centre (41,18%) and North (29,41%) as
demonstrated in Graph 1.2.
In terms of financial performance the study
requested revenue data for 2010, 2011, 2012,
and forecasts for 2013 and 2014 in Million Euros
(M). Despite the confidentiality and anonymity
of the survey the organizations provided a small
amount of exact data, rather preferring stating
their revenue range for the requested periods,
although with significant lack of replies, as the
question was left in blank by approximately one
third of the observations obtained.
Nonetheless, Graph 1.3 outlines a trend of
growth on revenues, with organisations shifting
from a revenue range equal or lower than 0,2M
to a revenue range equal or lower than 1M and
greater than 0,2M, the trend is visible over the
5 year period of data collected.

2
The cluster contacted on the scope of the study is EnergyIN Portuguese Cluster of Energy Technology and
Competitiveness (see http://www.energyin.com.pt/).

North
10
29,41%
Centre
14
41,18%
Lisbon
7
20,59%
Alentejo
0
0,00%
Algarve
0
0,00%
Azores
2
5,88%
Madeira
0
0,00%
Graph 1.2 Study observations distribution (Pereira, 2014)
Sample Geographic
Distribution
Portugal NUTS II Sub-regions
Graph 1.1 Market scope of EE entities (Pereira, 2014)
3

In terms of sector of operation, the industry is based on services, with 53% of the organizations acting as EE
service providers (Graph 1.4).
Regarding the evolution of EE jobs, their evolution is based on the business focus of the organisations. For
those operating on the EE industry only, the progression presents a growth rate of 20,57% on EE jobs in
2012, compared to 2010 levels. Although for companies operating both on EE and RE industries, a significant
loss is registered in 2012 of 17,78% compared to 2010 levels (Graph 1.5).

Graph 1.5 - Evolution of energy efficiency jobs in Portugal (Pereira, 2014)
These outcomes highlight the contribution of EE for job creation compared to the case of RE, which
presented losses over the period 2010 to 2012 for total jobs and for EE dedicated jobs. Although providing
clear job evolution trends of the EE industry, the conclusions presented must be used and analysed carefully,
given the reduced size of the sample obtained through the survey.
In terms of the EE sector workforce growth, 56% of the study participants stated their employees as
sufficient in the short-term (1-2 years), indicating a low willingness to increase workforce in the upcoming
years, which is a negative indicator in short-term job creation from energy efficiency. Due to the severe
macro-economic situation felt in Portugal during the time of this study, this seems to be a natural reaction
from companies but, on the other hand, can hide the true effect of EE, or RE, job impacts.
Data regarding the qualification level was on the scope of the survey, although being one of the items with
fewer observations obtained, making the conclusions uncertain. Nonetheless, for the collected information
the organizations are looking to hire employees with higher education more than any other qualification
level for both short and mid-term.
100,00%
99,14%
113,59%
105,25%
120,57%
86,67%
82,22%
80,00%
90,00%
100,00%
110,00%
120,00%
2010 2011 2012
Evolution of EE jobs in Portugal
(% variation)
(2010 = Base year -- Index 100%)
EE PT Employees % evolution (Total sample) n = 21 EE PT Employees % evolution (EE organisations only) n = 12
EE PT Employees % evolution (EE&RE organisations only) n = 9
15
11
12
10
8
6
7
7
8
10
3
3
3
1 1
1
2 2
10
12 12
13 13
2010 2011 2012 2013 -
Forecast
2014 -
Forecast
0 . 2 M 1 M 5 M > 5 M n.a.
Graph 1.3 Evolution of revenue range in M (Pereira, 2014)
7%
53%
29%
11%
Production of components
Services
Integrated EE solutions
Others
Graph 1.4 - EE entities sector of operation (Pereira, 2014)
4

Conclusions
Unfortunately, due to the low survey reply rate no statistical inference was made, however a number of
country specific conclusions, based on real data, could be drawn.
The outlined trends are believed to be a valuable contribution for the current literature as no study with
similar goal has been presented so far for the Portuguese case. Nonetheless these results must be analysed
carefully given the reduced participation of the invited organizations.
Moreover, they provide a first and necessary step to the development of a deeper study. The data and
results presented should be carefully used as indicators on the current scenario for Portugal, regarding job
impacts from clean energy.
The study herein provided exemplifies the encouraging results achievable through joint efforts involving
academia, industry and sector associations, on quantifying the impacts of the RE and EE industries on the
Portuguese employment scenario.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) under project
grant PEst-C/EEI/UI0308/2011, the Energy for Sustainability Initiative of the University of Coimbra and the
R&D Project EMSURE Energy and Mobility for Sustainable Regions (CENTRO 07 0224 FEDER 002004).
References
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