*3.2. Socio-Economic Sustainability Assessment*

This section revises the evolution of direct employment generation in the Spanish electricity system over the last decades and the projections for the future scenarios of 2030 and 2050. Figure 13 shows employment generation in the Spanish electricity system between 2010 and 2016. As explained for the economic assessment, the employment evaluation only covers the period 2010–2016 due to lack of information regarding the installation of additional capacity in earlier years.

**Figure 13.** Historic data (2010–2016) describing employment generation of Spain's electricity system per technology.

#### 3.2.1. Employment Generation in Historic and Present Situation

The results in Figures 13 and 14 show high employment generation rates (86,000 jobs) in 2010, with a very strong contribution of renewables, primarily in the manufacturing and construction stage. This reflects the rapid expansion in the installed capacity of renewable energies (primarily wind and PV, but also CSP) that occurred in Spain during the first years of the 2010 decade [42,43]. Most of the

jobs generated by the PV sector are associated with the installation (construction) of the plants while most of the jobs generated by wind are related to the manufacturing of components.

**Figure 14.** Employment generation in the Spanish electricity system since 2010 and disaggregated per life cycle phases: construction and installation of power plants (top left), raw materials and manufacturing of components (top right), operation and management of power plants (bottom left) and fuel production (bottom right).

The results show a progressive reduction in the generation of jobs between 2010 and 2013 in the manufacturing and construction phases, due to the progressive stagnation of the renewable sector and the stoppage in the deployment of additionally installed capacity. The exception to this trend is CSP, which peaks in employment generation during 2012 and 2013 due to the installation of new plants. The inactivity in the construction of new renewable plants extends until 2016, incorporating CSP after 2013.

Regarding the operation and management, the costs remain rather stable between 2010 and 2013. Then there is a jump between 2013 and 2014 and then they are stable again until 2016. In this life cycle stage, most jobs go to nuclear and hydroelectric (around 10,000 jobs each). It should be noted that jobs in operation and management are more stable than those in the construction stage, which are temporary as they last as long as the construction of the plant takes.

In contrast, the number of jobs attributable to the extraction and processing of fuels follows the trail marked by fossil technologies, with a relative maximum in 2012 which is the year with the highest contribution of coal power. Biomass is also a highly employment intensive technology, although its contribution to the Spanish electricity mix is very limited. Despite the lower contribution to power generation, most of the jobs in this category are attributable to coal, followed by natural gas, depending on its contribution to the mix.

Figure 15 illustrates the total number of direct jobs generated by the electricity system in Spain in the reference year of 2015. The power costs in this time are strongly dominated by the operation and management phase (78.43%), due to the very limited additional capacity projected for this year and the already strong contribution of nuclear power and renewables.

**Figure 15.** Breakdown of direct employment generation by power generation technology (2015).

#### 3.2.2. Employment in Future Projections

Figure 16 shows a comparative analysis of employment generation in the four future scenarios considered in this investigation. The results represent accumulated employment for each of the evaluated periods (2015–2030 and 2030–2050), including that associated with the installation of additional capacity (construction and manufacturing), operation and management, and fuel extraction and processing (where necessary). The results show higher employment rates in the three scenarios that assume a stronger penetration of renewable technologies (DC, CP and AT). In all these cases, employment is primarily associated with the deployment of PV and wind energy. This employment is generated earlier (2030) in the scenarios assuming a rapid transformation of the electricity model (DC and AT), and later (2050) in those assuming a more gradual conversion (CP). Overall employment generation is greatest in the scenario that proposes a higher overall power demand (AT). In contrast, the scenario that assumed a strong dependence on fossil fuels (ST) shows the lowest job gains, most of which are still related to the mild deployment of PV and wind power.

**Figure 16.** Employment generation of Spain's electricity system: future projections.

As an example, Figure 17 shows the distribution of jobs throughout the life cycle of the technologies contributing to the mix. This exercise has been done for the AT scenario in 2050, although the same discussion may be applicable to describe the situation in the other two scenarios describing a strong dependence on renewables (DC and CP). Thus, the results show most of the jobs that will be generated will be related to the manufacturing of the components and installations, and primarily to the construction of the new power plants. These jobs will be absorbed primarily by the PV technology and, to a lower extent, wind technology. The O&M phase has a significantly lower contribution to employment generation, while the contribution of fuel generation and transformation is negligible.

**Figure 17.** Breakdown of direct employment generation by life cycle phase (construction, manufacturing, Operation and Management, and fuel) in 2050 for the AT scenario.

#### **4. Conclusions**

The electricity system of a country has enormous repercussions on its sustainability. This investigation describes the evolution in environmental, economic and socio-economic sustainability of the Spanish electricity system between 1990 and 2015, and also in four future scenarios projected for the years 2030 and 2050.

The results have shown that between 1990 and 2000, there is a strong increase in the impacts generated by the system on most environmental categories. This is due to the fact that this period was characterized by solid economic growth which caused a robust demand for this energy vector, and also a strong dependence on fossil fuels of the technology mix. The total cost of power generation also escalates rapidly and so does the generation of employment.

In the period between 2000 and 2008, the results show a progressive but less rapid increase in power demand which is met using natural gas, while coal electricity reduces its predominance gradually. This results in reduced impact values in global categories like climate change, a limited effect on electricity generation cost and a stabilization in the generation of employment.

The period between 2008 and 2016 combines a strong economic crisis with an ambitious public strategy aimed at promoting renewables. The result is a progressive reduction in the impacts associated with global warming, a slight increase in the generation costs and a notable increase in employment generation.

Regarding the future projections, the results show that the scenarios with a higher contribution of renewables (DC, CP, AT) exhibited reduced GHG emissions per unit of power and achieved higher employment rates, all while having a lower economic cost. These benefits become more noticeable in the longer term (2050). The opposite is observed in the scenarios that assume a higher dependency on fossil technologies (ST).

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, G.S.M.; methodology, G.S.M. and M.C.; formal analysis, M.C.; investigation, G.S.M. and M.C.; data curation, G.S.M. and M.C.; writing—original draft preparation, G.S.M.; writing—review and editing, G.S.M.; visualization, G.S.M. and M.C.; supervision, G.S.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This piece of research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**

1. World Bank. *State of Electricity Access Report 2017*; World Bank: Washington, DC, USA, 2017; ISBN 1202522262.


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