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SPONSORS OF COMPETENCY TRAINING FEATURE


WIND INDUSTRY SKILLS


The National Skills Academy for Power played a big part in the development of the research document ‘working for a Greener Britain vol 2’ which confirmed the uK wind industry is expected to grow from 6GW to 28GW of generating capacity by 2020. Depending on the final deployment of consented wind energy by 2020 there will be between 28,000 and 87,000 full time equivalent employees directly or indirectly working in the large scale wind industry.


UK CHALLENGE


The UK faces the challenge of having insufficient talent available to fill these roles, where many of the roles are complex technical roles, which require specific skills and experience. The industry knows the numbers and types of roles needed to be filled by 2020, but when they will be required is still unclear.


TRANSFERABLE SKILLS


Some good news is that many of the roles required are roles that are already present in other industries. It will be a case of contextualising these skills rather than developing them all from scratch.


COMPETITION – WE ARE NOT ALONE But the wind industry is not the only industry looking for people with higher level STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills. There will be competition from other industries as new initiatives and developing industries are all competing for the same talent and skills. The challenge set before the wind industry is to quickly make clear statements on the skills required of the UK workforce, where they will be required and when. This will enable our trainers, colleges and universities to work on meeting these needs.


THE ‘MAGIC’ QUALIFICATION? We are often asked ‘What is THE qualification I need to get into the wind industry?’ It seems as though people want a ‘magic qualification’ that if they achieve it will guarantee entry.


There is no such qualification. The wind industry is broad and has many branches, entry to the industry is like any other, have the appropriate training (Engineering Apprenticeship, Engineering Degree, IT qualification etc.) and apply. The industry essential training will be provided once you have been employed.


Employers tell us that no one has been employed because they had a specific piece of health and safety training (such as sea survival). Having the training does not go against you but the job skills and experience are the things that make the difference.


COLLABORATIVE WORKING Through collaborative working between employers in the wind industry and the education and skills providers, there is an opportunity to develop the capability and capacity required to enable some real benefit, in terms of UK jobs in this massive growth area.


PUBLIC PERCEPTION The industry suffers from the fact that the public at large do not recognise the diversity of the opportunities in the wind industry or seeing the roles as being ‘Renewables’ or ‘Green jobs’. Most people wanting to work within the wind industry expect to be standing on top of a wind turbine or out at sea. This could not be further from the truth. The industry need telecommunications experts, supervisory control and data acquisition operators, sailors, catering staff, health and safety experts, network operators (electricity grid), archaeologists, ornithologists, meteorologists. In fact the estimate is that 90% of people working in the wind industry will never set foot on a turbine. We need to help the careers advisors, teachers and parents to understand the opportunities that are presented in the wind industry and the entry routes to these careers.


INDUSTRY SPECIFIC TRAINING There are industry specific apprenticeships and training courses, but these are designed for industry use with people employed in it than to give people an entry point. So… where does that leave those wishing to get into the power sector?


THINK POWER In the UK, this skills shortage is being tackled by Think Power, an initiative of the National Skills Academy for Power. Key UK power companies and training providers have joined together using their experience and knowledge to champion the benefits of working in the industry and unlock the country’s skills potential.


Rob Moore


The National Skills Academy for Power www.power.nsacademy.co.uk


Think Power www.thinkpowersector.co.uk


www.windenergynetwork.co.uk


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