The first new recruits to join Triton Knoll’s offshore operations team in Grimsby have taken up their posts, as the project’s presence in the UK town grows.
The team of 15, the first tranche of what will be a much larger recruitment drive by the project, include newly qualified apprentices plus 10 entirely new entrants to the renewables sector, most of whom live locally.
Innogy said the new team is now undergoing orientation with the offshore project and the company, which has the contract for managing the operations and maintenance, once construction is finished.
For the wind turbine technicians, part of that preparation will be to work as embedded technicians with the project’s turbine supplier MHI Vestas learning about the 9.5MW hardware and its operation.
Grimsby-born Kerry Monument is the O&M manager for Triton Knoll and is pleased to be bringing investment and new jobs back to his home town.
Monument said: “We are in the process of recruiting 70 people to the project in an area that has suffered from declining traditional industries and is still in the grip of closures today.
“Investing locally, and creating local jobs is so important to us both at Triton Knoll and Innogy, and we are delighted to have brought on board so many new people from the local area in our first recruitment drive.
“Given the number of applications we received for these 15 jobs alone, there’s clearly a huge interest in the sector and the Innogy business, and we look forward to delivering even more long term, skilled roles to as many local people as possible.”
Among the new recruits is qualified electrical engineer Harry Reid, who was born and bred in Grimsby and lives just a couple of miles from where the new O&M base is being built.
He is new to the offshore wind sector and when fully trained will take on a role of SOV wind turbine technician, working offshore to maintain the project’s 90 turbines long-term.
Reid said: “What Triton Knoll and Innogy are doing in the Grimsby area is great. Offshore wind presents good opportunities for the future and I’ve wanted to get involved for many years, ever since our school careers advisors came to talk to us.
“I always knew I needed to get into engineering if I was to stand a chance, and so I trained as an apprentice electrical engineer.
“A high skilled job like this, right on my doorstep is fantastic – it’s so accessible for me, and its long term.
“So long as I can keep climbing ladders I don’t expect I’ll have any issues, and I hope I can stay in this job for as long as the wind farm operates – and that’s so important for my job security.”
A further 50 plus direct jobs will be required by the project to support its long-term operations in Grimsby.
The typical 25-year-long lifecycle of the wind farm will also require important support services from companies that are based locally and have the potential to generate further new jobs in turn.
Triton Knoll is participating in a ‘Meet the Buyer’s’ event this week for companies interested in providing services to the O&M Team.