UK offshore wind services group 3Sun is setting up a technician training centre at East Coast College’s Great Yarmouth campus in Norfolk, England.
The East of England Offshore Wind Skills Centre, which also has the backing of the Greater Gabbard wind farm, will provide training shortly for local people wanting to work in the sector.
Norfolk County Council, Suffolk local authorities and the Education and Skills Funding Agency has backed the training with a £1.1m grant under its New Anglia Skills Deal Programme.
Developers, including ScottishPower Renewables (SPR), operators and supply chain companies are also supporting the cost of training places and providing equipment.
Greater Gabbard and 3sun have provided hydraulics training equipment, while SPR has supplied a training turbine and components.
Dalby Offshore will also provide seats on vessels so that trainees can spend half a day of the programme offshore.
Vattenfall is also supporting the training, which will initially consist of two courses – a three-week transition offering for people with engineering backgrounds in other industries and a 12-week course for jobseekers and recent education leavers.
3sun chief executive Graham Hacon said: “The big barrier for people in this area to get into offshore wind is the enormous cost of the technical wind-related training. This provides the funding to remove this barrier.
“We are looking for more companies to be involved. The more that join, the greater benefit to the company when it is looking for skilled technicians.”
The first three-week course starts at the end of this month with the 12-week course launching in July.
Image: reNEWS
3Sun schools offshore push
By EBS