SIEMENS APPRENTICESHIP
THE COMPANY EXPLAINS HOW IMPORTANT TRAINING IS TO THEM...
Siemens and the serious business of wind power training
Wind Power in the UK is one of the few sectors of the economy currently undergoing massive growth. And Siemens is at the centre of this green revolution. With a combined on and offshore wind turbine generating capacity of over 2GW (40% of the UK’s total) and 75% of all connections to the UK grid, Siemens more than any other company is serious about this market. Nowhere is this more evident than in Siemens’ investment in skills and training to support growth of its Renewables business.
Industry insiders estimate that up to 70,000 engineers will be needed over the next ten-twenty years to support industry growth. This represents a significant gap and challenge for the industry. As Dan Simpson, HR business partner for Siemens Renewables said: “If the UK is going to meet the requirements of the new energy age and low carbon agenda, government, private sector and educational establishments will need to work together. The challenge is huge and we will need to double our efforts.”
Siemens Renewables has itself grown from a UK based technician workforce of around 50 personnel in 2008 to in excess of 300 in 2010 out of a total Renewables workforce of approximately 470 employees. Over the next two to three years Siemens expects to double the numbers of employees in the division. Accompanying this, there has been a relative growth in support functions including finance, service co-ordinators, HR and training.
In order to ensure this growth provides the maximum return, whilst maintaining and exceeding the highest Health & Safety standards, a rigorous training programme is in place for all technicians, conducted primarily from Siemens dedicated Wind Power Training facility, (part of the Siemens Energy Service Training Centre – an £8m investment) in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. With new wind farms being developed around Scotland and Wales, as well as off the North West and Eastern coasts of England, Newcastle is ideally placed as a central training location, with excellent transport links. The facilities on site at the historic Parsons Works provide an unrivalled “one stop” facility containing various training towers up to 16 metres in height, as well as a complete 2.3MW Nacelle, and other electrical and hydraulic technical training equipment.
Siemens has also been busy in other areas of training. Siemens has played a key role with other industry and training partners to establish the UK’s first Wind Turbine Technician Modern Apprentice Scheme, recently launched in Scotland by first minister Alex Salmond. This scheme was developed through RenewableUK, and has been set up in partnership with Carnegie College in Dunfermline, with 15 apprentices who commenced a 4 year programme in August 2010.
Of these 15 apprentices, 12 are from Siemens, demonstrating our commitment to developing young talent to create tomorrow’s workforce. 2011 will see an increase in this scheme with further apprentices commencing at other sites across the UK. Interest in the scheme was such that to be successful, all candidates needed to not only show a strong aptitude for the core STEM subjects, but demonstrate a strong enthusiasm and interest in this relatively new industry. They were also required to undergo an intensive one to one interview, which required the candidates to provide physical evidence of an engineering project they had worked on.
Siemens is confident that the candidates chosen are living up to their potential. Until Dec 2011, they will be full time at Carnegie College, with the exception of four weeks in June 2011 when they will be based at the Newcastle Training Centre. At Newcastle they will undergo the same initial four week training program that all Wind Service Technicians have to, enforcing key Health & Safety messages, and introducing basic technical capabilities. From January 2012, they will be deployed to various sites to complete there apprenticeship training working alongside experienced wind service technicians.
Wind Energy NETWORK
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