© Supplied by ECITB A group of 15 oil and gas workers based across Grangemouth and Aberdeen have completed a pilot energy transition cross-skill programme focused on offshore wind.
The group included employees from Wood, Petrofac, Semco Maritime and Ponticelli alongside former mechanical technicians from the Grangemouth oil refinery.
The pilot programme was developed by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) in partnership with the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and the ORE Catapult.
The course recognised the prior learning and skills of qualified oil and gas technicians and delivered a task-based programme with wind-specific GWO training.
Eight learners in Grangemouth and seven in Aberdeen completed the course, which supports two-way deployments across oil and gas and offshore wind infrastructure.
However, when initially advertised, the ECITB announced plans for two cohorts of 12 workers to take part in the initiative. This means that the programme delivered nine fewer positions than planned.
The training programme was delivered at Forth Valley College in Falkirk and North East Scotland College in Aberdeen, in partnership with RelyOn.
© Supplied by ECITBThe learners also visited the ORE Catapult demonstration turbine at Levenmouth for practical training elements.
It comes after years of ongoing effort from across the offshore energy sector to implement an offshore skills passport for North Sea workers.
The ECITB said many of those who completed the pilot programme will immediately move into roles on offshore wind assets.
Meanwhile, one of the Grangemouth refinery workers who completed the course has already secured a new position with Wood.
Offshore skills and experience
Niall Gibb, one of the learners at the Grangemouth programme, said he was eager to apply his decade of offshore experience to a “growing and future-focused industry”.
“The chance for time-served technicians to draw on years of experience while building on their existing skillsets resonated strongly with my own ambition for personal and professional development,” Gibb said.
© Supplied by ECITB“I viewed the programme as a crucial pathway to transition from oil and gas into the renewable energy sector.”
Gibb added that the training he received helped him to secure a role with GE Vernova, where he will join as a lead commissioning technician at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.
“This programme has been a genuinely transformative step in my career,” he said.
“I would strongly encourage energy professionals looking towards a greener future to seriously consider this ambitious and successful cross-skilling initiative.”
The ECITB chief executive, Andrew Hockey, said there is a “clear case” to support the offshore supply chain to cross-skill existing workers to service both late-life oil and gas assets and offshore wind installations.
“It is vital we maintain the appropriate standards of technical skills and behavioural safety across the engineering construction sectors and the two-way transition of skilled workers between sectors will help improve safety, workforce mobility and the resilience of the industry,” Hockey said.
UK wind capacity targets
The ECITB said current UK-installed wind capacity needs to double for both onshore and offshore wind if UK government targets are to be met by 2030.
But a report from RenewableUK and the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) released this week forecast an average shortfall of 11,000 wind turbine technicians in the UK over the next five years.
© Image: GettyImagesRegional analysis also shows the highest workforce concentrations will be in coastal and Scottish regions, the ECITB said.
However, a recent report from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) found that 80% of the UK’s “offshore wind and cluster projects in construction/installation (by GW) between 2025 and 2030 are forecast to be outside Scotland”.
This prompted concern from RGU as it reported that one in six jobs in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are tied to offshore energy, a jump from Scotland’s figure of one in 30 and a significant leap from the UK’s one in 220.
The ECITB said it is reviewing feedback from participants in the pilot programme as it aims to have a final programme available through its training partners by autumn.
The trade body funded the training for all workers and received additional support for the five workers from Grangemouth refinery, with co-funding by the Scottish government.
