The wind industry is growing rapidly, but skills development has not kept pace leading to a shortage of qualified workers. TPWind has released a report that indicates what steps the European wind industry needs to take to solve the problem.
Installed capacity has increased from around 13 GW in 2000 to more than 100 GW in 2012. There is currently a shortage of 7000 qualified personnel required by the European wind energy sector each year, a figure that could increase to 15,000 by 2030 if the number of graduates taking courses relevant to the industry does not rise.
Most Vacancies in Operations and Maintenance
Nearly 50,000 additional trained staff will be needed by the industry by 2030. By that year, operations and maintenance will become the greatest source of new jobs and demand for trained staff.
Recommendations
TPWind’s report “"Workers wanted: The EU wind energy sector skills gap" identifies areas for action and proposes policy initiatives such as:
- The quality of vocational training should be improved.
- In the short to medium term, the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills of employees could be improved through targeted courses for employees.
- Providing access to hands-on experience in the wind industry, through short-term secondments or visiting lecturer roles for senior professionals.
- Industrial apprenticeships should be extended beyond just graduates and should standardise curricula and increase academic institutions’ involvement.
- Expand the graduate level of wind energy generalists.
- Training programmes in the wind industry must target operational and maintenance skills.
