Understanding the scale of the offshore wind workforce

Projections from the UK Offshore Wind Industry Council’s Skills Intelligence Model predict a sharp rise in worker demand. In 2022 there were 154,100 jobs recorded in the offshore energy sector. By 2050, this is set to rise to more than 350,000, with particular growth in the floating wind workforce. 

Andrew Aveyard, Business and Development Lead for energy at the University of Edinburgh, has been studying these trends. 

“When I started working in this last year, we knew we needed more people in the industry by 2030. But no one could tell you what those roles were,” he says. “What I tried to do was to really burrow down into what those roles are actually going to be so we can train the right people to do the right jobs.”

According to Aveyard’s research, Scottish offshore wind could experience a gap of 8,000 professionals by 2029.

Developing early-phase talent in offshore wind

Aveyard has found that planners, lawyers, and other early-phase roles are already in high demand. This is because legal documents and funding are necessary before wind turbine installation can begin. 

“We are looking at how we can get people from the trade sector in,” he says. “We're going to need lots of new technicians, but the immediate need is at the front end.  We need professionals to help developers with projects address financial investment decisions before beginning the construction process. Unless we get the right number of accountants and planners at the front end, these projects are going to take much longer to develop."

“That is where of lot of my focus is," adds Aveyard. "It is how we can make sure the developers have the people they need to deliver these 30 or so projects over the next ten years so that we can get them to a financial investment decision.”

The skills and courses for an offshore wind workforce

ESP has partnered with Scottish colleges to educate future workers. Energy, engineering, and construction are the target sectors. ESP training courses will also cover skills gaps in the workforce. 

“We develop the curriculum, we develop the teaching materials, then we hand that over to the colleges,” adds Brown. “So, we can do a quite rapid response around any skills needed.”

ESP also hopes to deliver shorter offshore wind courses to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates. Similarly, Aveyard is working with universities to offer teaching for experienced technicians, engineers, and professionals from other industries. 

Scotland’s expertise in offshore wind

Scotland has already proven its ability to tackle workforce shortages in the Scottish North Sea energy industry, demonstrated by the country’s oil and gas operations, which used world-leading technologies and techniques to address the shortage. 

Scottish industry has been operating in adverse offshore conditions for decades. Ports and infrastructure are already in place and only need to be upgraded rather than built from scratch. Equipped with experience, Scottish offshore wind excels in manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and project development. 

Offshore wind projects in Scotland benefit from the industry expertise available. There is extensive knowledge of seabeds, wind farm foundations, and adverse marine environments. In fact, other nations are turning to Scotland for guidance. 

Aveyard is optimistic about the projects in development, and the ability to keep up with future demand in Scotland. 

“We have a massive opportunity to lead the world and revolutionise our energy generation and usage,” he says.