Innogy will pilot a national apprenticeship hub to help meet the skills requirements for servicing offshore wind farms in the UK.
Concurrently the developer has launched a “recruitment drive” to find prospective candidates to join the apprentice wind turbine technician programme in September.
This year Innogy will recruit eight trainee wind turbine technicians, its biggest intake to date, who will have the chance to go on to work on its offshore wind farms.
The training hub builds on Innogy’s apprenticeship programme at Coleg Llandrillo in North Wales.
The first two years of the apprenticeship programme will be based at the college in North Wales, with a third year of hands-on work experience either at the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm, off the coast of Lincolnshire, or at Rhyl Flats, off the coast of North Wales.
Innogy Renewables UK offshore investment and asset management director Richard Sandford said: “We are thrilled to launch this pilot programme. Our extremely successful apprenticeship programme was first launched in 2012 to generate skilled technicians that could meet the needs of Gwynt y Mor.
“This course has since trained nearly 30 new apprentices producing high quality technicians who have been deployed, both locally and across the UK. This is why we are keen to trial this national hub as the need is clearly now wider than North Wales.”
Sandford added: “Last year the Sector Deal committed to delivering training within the renewables sector and I’m pleased that we are able to deliver on this so soon. We are serious about developing a workforce to meet our needs by creating high quality vocational learning opportunities and this hub will do just that.”
Nathan Jones (pictured) who underwent the apprenticeship programme and is now working as a full time technician at Gwynt y Mor said: “I’d really recommend people to apply.
“This course has been life-changing for me. I’ve learnt so much and grown as an individual. It’s not a walk in the park by any means but if you are willing to really knuckle down and able to be away from home for lengthy periods, the end goal is so worth it.”
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an assessment centre, subject to Government guidelines, prior to a final selection being made. Candidates are invited to apply online via https://jobs.innogy.com. The deadline for applications is 29 May 2020.