The wind energy sector has markedly grown over the last decade, covering 20.8% of the EU electricity demand and amounting to over 350.000 jobs (2022 data).The sector exhibits increasing demand for skilled labour, particularly for wind turbine technicians, due to three interrelated factors:
a) constantly expanding wind turbines fleet,
b) ageing of existing infrastructure, as older turbines require more frequent maintenance, and
c) proliferation of offshore installations.
In fact, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) predicts that the EU wind energy capacity will grow to 400GW in 2030 (from 84.3GW in 2010). Still, the growth of the industry is not supported by a proportional increase of the available skilled labour. Current estimates show that the EU wind industry is likely to require 700.000 additional workers by 2030 to accommodate for the planned capacity expansion.
CHALLENGES
Although there are numerous EU-funded initiatives focusing on retraining coal workers, the reskilling efforts for those affected by the
clean energy transition have yet to be fully integrated into the mainstream agenda of VET provision.
Retraining policies in the European Union are not yet linked to the anticipation of future labour market needs; national educational
retraining policies have not been specialized in the renewable energy sector and instead have been focusing on the entire job market, thus leaving important
gaps for workers looking to integrate themselves in this professional sector.
In spite of the EU’s strong commitment to clean energy sources, VET education has not yet kept pace with this demand. The aim of the
project is to cover this distance and kickstarting progress in the field of upskilling the wind energy workforce.