Offshore wind giant RWE has recruited its biggest-ever cohort of wind turbine technician apprentices.
Sixteen trainees are due to start studies at Coleg Llandrillo’s recently opened engineering training centre in Rhyl, North Wales.
This latest intake brings the total number who have joined the RWE apprenticeship programme to more than 100 since it began in 2012.
The intake includes the first apprentices specifically recruited to work on the company’s Sofia offshore wind farm, currently under construction on Dogger Bank, 195km off the UK’s northeast coast.
Others will work on offshore wind farm projects around the UK once qualified, including Gwynt y Môr and Rhyl Flats off the north Wales coast.
© Supplied by RWERWE has 10 offshore wind projects in the pipeline.
Paul Flanagan, Principal of Coleg Llandrillo, said, “RWE has been a valued partner of Grŵp Llandrillo Menai for over a decade, and we are proud to celebrate this significant milestone of over 100 apprentices receiving outstanding education and training through our collaboration.”
The £13m Rhyl Engineering Centre, a three-floor facility spanning 3000m², features a renewable energy technology training facility developed collaboratively with RWE Renewables.
The centre was funded by the Welsh government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme and Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, and opened in February 2024.
Lewis Wind Power
Scottish firm Lewis Wind Power (LWP), developer of the proposed Stornoway Wind Farm in the Outer Hebrides, is also running an apprenticeship scheme.
The company will pay the salaries of two full-time apprentices to work with businesses on the Western Isles that have the potential of contributing to the construction of Stornoway Wind Farm in the coming years.
The invitation is open to qualifying firms willing to host a fully-paid apprentice on a three-year placement.
© Image: EDF Renewables/Jamie HunterApplications are sought from across sectors and are encouraged from non-traditional industries. They can involve a variety of energy-related skills including environmental, craft or engineering.
The local employer would be responsible for the recruitment and employment of the apprentices, arranging the training scheme, providing the necessary safe working practices and providing opportunities to develop their skills.
LWP would cover apprentices’ salaries, additional training costs and travel costs.
Interested businesses can find more information at www.lwp.scot or by emailing logan.black@edf-re.uk.
Applications should be submitted by 12 October.
Stornoway Wind Farm is a consented 33-turbine wind farm with a capacity of up to 200MW. LWP is a 50:50 joint venture between EDF Renewables and ESB.