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NWEA, the Dutch Wind Energy Association, offshore energy education institute DOB-Academy and international recruitment company Atlas Professionals have joined forces in order to fight the gap in offshore wind professionals in the next few years. By means of a Renewables Roadshow they will visit schools to promote working in the wind industry among adolescents.
The Renewables Roadshow focusses its efforts on knowledge sharing and reputation. “Connecting young people with the number one sustainable source of electricity of the future; that is the Renewables Roadshow. It’s a chance to present the enormous opportunities the wind sector has to offer to them. Because joining the wind industry means becoming part of one of the fastest growing sustainable sectors,” says Bastiaan Vader, Industry Specialist Human Capital at NWEA. “As renewable energy is relatively new, not everyone can grasp the extent of the transition and the career opportunities it offers. The Roadshow is a way to bridge this gap,” Vader explains.
A recent report ( ‘Employment analysis (2019-2023) of various field of activities in the Dutch offshore wind sector’) on offshore wind employment concluded that over 2500 professionals are needed in the next five years to build offshore wind farms in the Netherlands. “At Atlas we are convinced that the industry cannot rely on re-skilling workers from other industries as a long-term, cast-iron solution. With notoriously higher rates than the wind sector, we are already noticing that oil & gas professionals are returning to the sector as their activities increase. We need to prepare other solutions, such as this Renewables Roadshow, to get increased awareness of the Renewables career opportunities among young people,” says Joost Pellis, Strategic Manager Renewables & Marine at Atlas Professionals.. “We want adolescents pursuing a technical career to realize that they can also pursue a career in offshore wind. That they can not only strike for climate, but also create and change the future by working in (offshore) Renewables.”
Depending on the time available, the schools can pick and mix between a fixed set of activities and presentations. One of them is the frequently played Rotor Game, a proven practical case, by Delft based DOB-Academy. “The rotor game is a popular feature in our Introduction to Offshore Wind Course. It not only gives a good insight of how a wind turbine generates power, it enables participants to come up with their own rotor design. Besides that, it is always fun to see if your own creation actually works! When visiting schools, we also see that it attracts a lot of students for that reason,” Hendrik Goos from DOB-Academy says. Schools or students interested in the Renewables Roadshow can contact the initiators.
