Partner Article

Public and private sectors unite for wind skills

The North East is set to be the site for the UK’s first wind turbine training tower.

Northumberland College, narec and Mainstream Renewable Power have announced a collaborative training partnership, backed by One North East, which plans to erect the country’s first wind turbine training tower in Blyth, Northumberland as the next step in the development of a UK Centre for Wind Technician Skills.

The initiative aims to put the necessary training in place to ensure the UK gets the maximum economic benefit from the new offshore wind industry.

Paul Cook, Assistant Principal of Northumberland College, said: “The training tower and associated infrastructure includes the necessary internal and external features to deliver Level 3 and some Level 4 training courses as part of Northumberland College’s Wind Technician Training. The tower will allow us to increase the number of technicians that can be trained and enhance our reputation as the leading provider of wind energy skills training in the UK.”

In addition to expanding the college’s Wind Technician Training Course, the training tower will also signify the next stage in the development of a UK Centre for Wind Skills, placing the North East at the forefront of the wind industry’s efforts to avoid a skills shortage.

Stephen Wilson, Director of Wind and Marine at narec said: “Good training is vital to further establish the UK as the world leader in the wind sector and ensure maximum benefit for the country in terms of future jobs across the supply chain. narec provides the ideal environment for training providers to deliver and develop new courses which equip personnel for work offshore and the tower is the first piece of the jigsaw to enable industry to achieve our challenging targets for new generation.”

The partnership will be consulting with the local planning authority and stakeholders as it progresses with the project design and site option studies.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .