Page 65: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2025)

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he Engineering Construction Industry Train- ing Board (ECITB), in partnership with the

Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and the

Groundbreaking

Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, is launching a new cross-skilling program to

T program launched support worker transferability between oil & gas and wind operations and maintenance in the UK.

to deliver a two-way

This pilot program enables the two-way transition of qualifed oil and gas technicians into onshore and offshore wind and then back again as and when maintenance activ- transition for Oil & ity is needed.

Current UK-installed wind capacity needs to double for

Gas Technicians both onshore and offshore wind if the UK Government targets are to be met by 2030. But the Offshore Wind working in Wind.

Industry Council’s labour forecasting suggests there is a shortfall of over 4,500 skilled operations and maintenance roles needed over the next fve years.

Andrew Hockey, CEO of the ECITB, said: “Oil and gas will need to continue, certainly in the short and medium term, and we need to ensure the industry has the skilled workforce it needs to deploy to both existing oil and gas felds as well as onshore and offshore wind.

“This program can create opportunities for our UK sup- ply chain companies to diversify their energy portfolios and ensure the continuing development of a competent and competitive wind energy supply chain. The ECITB is providing additional funding for employers to support this cross-skilling of the workforce.

“I’d like to extend thanks to the ORE Catapult for its signifcant contribution in allowing learners site access to its offshore wind turbine.

“It is vital we maintain the appropriate standards of tech- nical skills and behavioural safety across the engineering construction sectors and the two-way transition of skilled workers between sectors will help improve safety, work- force mobility and the resilience of the industry.”

Two cohorts will start on the pilot program in Scotland at North East Scotland College, Aberdeen, in March and

Forth Valley College, Grangemouth, in May.

Based on the Connected Competence model of assur- ing base technical competence of common skills, the fully funded six-week program is suitable for both onshore and offshore wind operations. It will support existing Instru- ment & Controls, Mechanical and Electrical Technicians and provide the requisite standard of technical training across the technician pathways to enable them to work on wind assets as Wind Turbine Maintenance Techni- cians (WTMT).

Supply chain organisations and wind farm developers can now register for the pilot program. More information including how to register is included in the WTMT Cross- march/april 2025 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 65