ScotWind consortium partners BP and EnBW have committed more than £1m to X-Academy in a five-year deal.
The commitment includes creating entry-level energy transition roles and reskilling experienced workers if the consortium is successful in its ScotWind application.
Led by energy consultancy Xodus, X-Academy will provide training opportunities for hundreds of people to work directly on initiatives to reduce emissions and accelerate efforts towards net zero.
The two-year mentored placements in Aberdeen will be open to graduates and people looking to reskill for positive change with 24 participants expected in the first cohort.
Non-profit-making X-Academy will reinvest training profits into further skills development, climate projects and innovations.
Peter Tipler (pictured), X-Academy director, said: “With each trainee spending around 2000 hours a year through on the job learning, we want to harness that power and put talented and motivated people to work addressing the moon-shot ideas that could make the biggest difference.
“We are thrilled to have the support of ETZ, BP and EnBW and are in talks with other stakeholders to ensure X-Academy can help as many people as possible.”
Emeka Emembolu, senior vice president North Sea at BP, said: “Scotland is uniquely positioned to lead the energy transition by harnessing the decades of skills and experience built up in the offshore oil and gas sector.
“Initiatives like the X-Academy will open doors for existing and future talent to pursue careers in the low carbon energy sector – and importantly be included in a just transition.
“That’s exactly why skills development was a critical component of our ambitious ScotWind bid with EnBW, which, if successful, will see us commit more than £1m to the X-Academy, so we can continue to nurture and apply those skills as we pave a new lower carbon energy future together.”