At the beginning of 2022, we established an internal training and upskilling journey consisting of virtual classroom training, which offers an introduction to the offshore wind value chain. Because of this successful internal test and pilot, we have now taken the step to offer this learning and upskilling-journey to customers and partners.
The offshore wind industry is struggling with supply chain challenges. The pandemic, the push for energy security and high-growth targets are all contributing to price volatility, delays and shifting market dynamics. But with the industry focusing on materials, technology and installation equipment, it’s important not to lose sight of the “non-material” bottlenecks – the people and the experts needed to deliver on our ambitious collective milestones. About 15 years ago we were in this exact same situation when it came to onshore wind expertise; the industry had a shortage of experts which risked hindering successful capacity growth. As we saw and experienced back then, it takes time to educate, train and recruit the extra engineers and construction workers needed for the huge, planned buildout of the wind industry. Today, the offshore wind industry faces an even tougher challenge as sectors across the energy industry compete for new talent.
At DNV we’re facing the same challenges as we grow to meet the needs of the energy transition. Two years ago, we combined our oil and gas and power and renewables business areas to enable our customers to take full advantage of our combined expertise. But this also gave us an opportunity to build an internal pool of potential future offshore wind experts. While many skills in the oil and gas industry are transferable to offshore wind there are core differences in both design criteria, costs and technology understanding.
While upskilling has always existed within DNV to allow employees to move between sectors and specialisms, we suddenly found ourselves with a huge potential talent pool, and colleagues with unrivaled expertise in oil and gas, who were eager to build on their knowledge and contribute to our offshore wind projects. Because of the number of people interested in upskilling we needed a structured and efficient approach, as it was clear that attempting to do this on a case-by-case basis would simply not be effective.
At the beginning of 2022, we established an internal training and upskilling journey consisting of virtual classroom training, which offers an introduction to the offshore wind value chain. This is followed by ten deep-dive training modules in specific functional areas from feasibility and development to installation and operation and maintenance. Finally, our employees are integrated in commercial projects. Since launching the program, around 500 employees have gone through the first stage of the training with 225 having completed the deeper dive modules. Many of these initial candidates are now immersed in projects, with real life on-the-job training as the last phase for their professional re-qualification to support our customers offshore wind needs.
Feedback from the upskilled individuals has been very positive. The new structured approach expands the skillset of employees and supports their professional development while also proving an effective method for onboarding new starters. The program has also been well received by our existing offshore wind teams, who are now able to take advantage of internal talent on top of external recruitment.
Because of this successful internal test and pilot, we have now taken the step to offer this learning and upskilling-journey to customers and partners. The training in the basics of bottom-fixed offshore wind consists of three half-day online sessions of 20 modules. On completion, attendees will have a good understanding of the market and how offshore wind differs from onshore wind with regards to the components and the various project phases. A similar training course is available for floating wind and project certification for offshore.
The courses can be booked on an individual basis or exclusively for your organization, to allow the course to be tailored to your exact training needs.
For more information on the course structure and to receive an email when new dates are released you can add your details to the form below.
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