Every year, senior technicians and grid engineers in the renewable energy sector reach retirement age. A highly competitive labour market has intensified the challenge of recruiting specialised electrical engineering and data science graduates, particularly as wind and solar installations become more technologically complex. As power grids integrate smart management systems, roles are shifting from basic physical installation to complex systems monitoring and data analytics. However, advanced diagnostic software and aerial drone inspections can mitigate some staffing bottlenecks. By delegating high-risk manual inspections of offshore turbines to automated systems, human engineers are freed to focus on high-level system optimization and predictive maintenance design.
Using the information in Extract B and your economic knowledge, examine two factors which might influence the supply of labour in the renewable energy sector.