An industry boss has warned that offshore wind developments around the UK may have to rely on a largely foreign workforce because of a severe skills gap.
Richard Hatton, head of UK offshore sales at wind turbine firm REpower, said the thousands of jobs being created as more projects come on stream could have to be filled by people coming from abroad.
The assembly, installation, operation and maintenance phases of large-scale offshore windfarms could account for 4,500 jobs over the next 10 years, he added. According to some economic experts, indirect employment could take the tally to nearly 70,000 by 2020.
For Mr Hatton, the question is does the UK have access to the skills needed to fill these jobs from within its own workforce?
He said: “Currently, the UK lacks many of the skills required for the offshore sector – particularly turbine engineers and mechanics. Much of this talent can be found abroad in Germany and Scandinavia, where the industry is more mature. The danger we face is losing many of these jobs to a foreign workforce and, therefore, losing out on the associated economic benefits of employment growth.”
Mr Hatton said some progress was being made on training and further investment here and a vast network of transferable skills in the marine industry meant the UK could still develop the talent needed to meet the huge employment potential in the offshore wind sector.
Morag McCorkindale, chief operating officer at Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), said: “A significant number of initiatives and apprenticeship schemes have been established to attract skilled people into renewables. Aberdeen city and shire are also playing a critical role in strengthening the UK’s skills base because of their world-class upstream oil and gas expertise, which spans more than 40 years.”
“Furthermore, one of AREG’s flagship projects – the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre – is anticipated to act as a magnet for jobs and inward investment.”
Michael Rieley, policy officer for planning and skills at industry body Scottish Renewables, said: “We are confident that Scotland has all the ingredients to build a strong supply chain and skilled workforce to support the emerging offshore wind energy sector.”
“Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council understand the scale of the opportunity and are focusing their resources accordingly.”
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