Aura EU Skills UK Offshore Wind Skills Study Full Report October 2018

Skills and Labour Requirements of the
UK Offshore Wind Industry
2018 to 2032
October 2018
Skills and Labour Requirements of the
UK Offshore Wind Industry
2018 to 2032
Table of Contents
Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... 5
1. Foreword ....................................................................................................................... 6
2. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 8
1.1 Objectives .............................................................................................................. 8
1.2 Our Approach ........................................................................................................ 9
3. Executive Summary ....................................................................................................12
4. The UK Offshore Wind Industry – Now and in the Future ........................................20
3.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................20
3.2 The Project Pipeline .............................................................................................22
3.3 Project Timelines .................................................................................................26
3.4 Conclusions..........................................................................................................29
4. Future Employment Opportunities in Offshore Wind ...............................................30
4.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................30
4.2 Employment Estimates ........................................................................................32
4.3 Conclusions..........................................................................................................37
5. Competition for Talent - The Bigger Picture ..............................................................38
5.1 UK Labour Market Context ..................................................................................39
5.2 Investment in Major National Infrastructure Projects ........................................43
5.2.1 Investment from 2017 / 18 to 2020 / 21 ...........................................................43
5.2.2 Investment from 2021 / 22 and Beyond ...........................................................46
5.3 The Scale of Competition for Skilled Talent .......................................................47
5.4 UK Onshore Wind.................................................................................................48
5.5 Conclusions..........................................................................................................51
6. Implications for Skills .................................................................................................54
6.1 The Demand for Skills..........................................................................................54
6.2 The Supply of Skills .............................................................................................64
6.2.1 Regional Labour Markets ................................................................................64
Skills and Labour Requirements of the UK Offshore Wind Industry 2018 to 2032
© 2018 Energy & Utility Skills Limited Page 1
6.2.2 Apprenticeships...............................................................................................67
6.2.3 Higher Education.............................................................................................70
6.2.4 STEM Progress from School to HE .................................................................75
6.2.5 Transferable Skills from Other Sectors ............................................................80
6.3 Barriers to Talent Acquisition .............................................................................81
6.4 Conclusions..........................................................................................................83
7. The Energy Estuary.....................................................................................................87
7.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................87
7.2 Current and Future Project Pipeline ...................................................................89
7.3 Predicted Employment Demand..........................................................................91
7.4 Wider Competition for Skills ...............................................................................93
7.5 Implications for Skills Demand ...........................................................................95
7.6 Implications for Skills Supply .............................................................................96
7.6.1 Apprenticeship Training Provision in the Region .............................................98
7.7 Regional Networks, Fora and Agencies Active in Offshore Wind ..................105
7.8 Conclusions........................................................................................................110
8. Recommendations ....................................................................................................112
Annex 1 – Bibliography....................................................................................................122
Annex 2 – Honours Degree Groupings ...........................................................................126
Annex 3 – Other Relevant Networks and Fora ...............................................................128
Annex 4 – Potential Apprenticeship Frameworks and Standards ................................139
Table of Figures
Figure 1: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – generating capacity ...............................22
Figure 2: Characteristics of the UK offshore wind project pipeline .......................................23
Figure 3: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – generating capacity by region ................24
Figure 4: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – number of turbines by region .................25
Figure 5: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – construction timescales for large
(500MW+) projects .............................................................................................27
Figure 6: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – in-year construction and
aggregated generating capacity .........................................................................28
Figure 7: UK Offshore wind employment growth by project stage ........................................32
Figure 8: UK Offshore wind employment growth by broad skill level ....................................33
Figure 9: UK Offshore wind employment growth by region ..................................................34
Figure 10: National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline – Total spend by sector
(2017/18 to 2020/21) ..........................................................................................44
Figure 11: National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline – Annual spend
(£million) by region (2017/18 to 2020/21) ...........................................................45
Figure 12: Principal Energy, Transport and Utilities investments (£1bn+ investment)
2021/22 and Beyond ..........................................................................................46
Figure 13: Total UK labour demand in energy and infrastructure sectors 2017-2024 ...........47
Figure 14: Characteristics of the UK onshore wind project pipeline .....................................49
Figure 15: Onshore wind generating capacity (MW) by nation .............................................49
Figure 16: Onshore wind turbines by nation ........................................................................50
Figure 17: Examples of skill requirements by project stage .................................................55
Figure 18: Predicted extent of European skills shortages (2013 to 2030 .............................60
Figure 19: Skill areas identified as being important to the future success of the
offshore wind industry ........................................................................................61
Figure 20: Job roles reported as being in shortage in the wider UK electricity sector ...........62
Figure 21: Unemployment rate for people aged 16+ by region of the UK.............................65
Figure 22: Highest qualification held by resident population (16+) .......................................66
Figure 23: Number of starts on relevant Apprenticeship frameworks and standards
– 2011/12 to 2016/17 (England only)..................................................................68
Figure 24: Number of offshore wind-related Honours degrees achieved – 2011/12
to 2015/16 ..........................................................................................................70
Figure 25: Number of Honours degrees achieved within offshore wind-related
subjects by region (2015/16) ..............................................................................71
Figure 26: Regions and institutions achieving the highest number of offshore-
relevant Honours Degrees (2015/16) .................................................................72
Figure 27: Number of Honours Degree graduates that enter employment in the
wider energy sector (2015/16) ............................................................................74
Figure 28: Key transition points for young people across various stages of
education towards engineering...........................................................................75
Figure 29: Potential offshore capacity (MW) by 2032 in Yorkshire & Humber/ East
Midlands and UK by project phase .....................................................................89
Figure 30: Potential number of offshore turbines by 2032 in the Yorkshire &
Humber/ East Midlands and UK by project phase ..............................................90
Figure 31: Offshore wind employment estimates for Yorkshire & Humber / East
Midlands and UK ................................................................................................91
Figure 32: Offshore wind employment growth estimates for Yorkshire & Humber /
East Midlands by project stage...........................................................................92
Figure 33: Offshore wind employment growth estimates for Yorkshire & Humber /
East Midlands by broad skill level .......................................................................93
Figure 34: Forecast employment demand in the Yorkshire & Humber / East
Midlands energy and infrastructure sectors (by sector) 2017-2024.....................94
Figure 35: Skill areas identified as being important to the future success of the
offshore wind industry ........................................................................................95
Figure 36: Unemployment rate for people aged 16+ by region of the UK.............................96
Figure 37: Highest qualification held by resident population (16+) .......................................96
Figure 38: Number of Honours degrees achieved within offshore wind-related
subjects by region (2015/16) ..............................................................................97
Figure 39: Offshore wind-related Apprenticeship training providers in and around
the Energy Estuary.............................................................................................99
Figure 40: Support networks and bodies in and around the Energy Estuary ......................106
Abbreviations
BAME Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic
CBI Confederation of British Industry
CTV Crew Transfer Vehicle
EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal
FTE Full-Time Equivalent
GW Giga Watt (1,000 MW)
HE Higher Education
HEI Higher Education Institution
HNC Higher National Certificate
HND Higher National Diploma
HV High voltage
MW Mega Watt (1,000KW)
NM Nautical Miles
O&M Operation and maintenance
R&D Research and development
RUK RenewableUK
SOV Service Operation Vessel
UKCES UK Commission for Employment and Skills
UXO Unexploded Ordnance
1. Foreword
These are exciting times for the renewables sector. The UK is leading the world in
offshore wind, with more installed capacity than any other country. We need to retain this
position by continuing our investment in innovation and we can only do that with inspired
and creative people.
On behalf of the offshore wind industry, I am delighted to introduce this study on the
challenges we face over the next decade as we seek to attract the best people to our
workforce. Commissioned from Energy & Utility Skills by the Aura partners,
the report’s publication is timely.
In response to the UK’s Industrial Strategy, we have set ourselves some very ambitious
targets in our Sector Deal Prospectus – A Sea of Opportunity. Tens of thousands of new
jobs will be created as offshore wind becomes the backbone of a clean, reliable and
affordable energy system.
This study provides the facts that underlie some of the future struggles we will need to
overcome. Based on the current project pipeline, we are going to need approximately
36,000 people employed in the offshore wind industry by 2032. To fill these roles, we are
going to have to compete against other sectors to attract talented people, in what is
predicted to be a very tight labour market over the next four to five years. Too few school
leavers are choosing the subjects needed to work in an industry driven by technology,
such as ours. The UK is already short of approximately 20,000 engineering graduates per
year. We need to change that.
Our aim is to become a leading industry for diversity and inclusion. We want to be the
industry of choice for women and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic workers who want a
career in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sector. We will be
proactive in ensuring more females progress their studies of STEM subjects post-16. Only
35% of post-16 females study STEM subjects such as maths, physics, computing or a
technical vocational qualification (compared to 94% of post-16 males).
This is despite females accounting for 50% of STEM students at GCSE level.
This study demonstrates the importance of delivering a sector-wide strategy to

standardise education and skills training to support clear career pathways and
qualifications for all levels across the industry. Education provision is fragmented and un-
coordinated in the UK today. We want to make it easier for people to work within the
industry and supply chain, and to transfer from other industries and professions.
We are still a young and pioneering sector and we need to build on that to ensure that we
keep our dominant position in the world. We need a highly skilled, diverse and motivated
workforce to deliver innovative technologies that drive decarbonisation across the
economy in the coming decades.
Hugh McNeal
Chief Executive
RenewableUK
2. Introduction
Aura and Green Port Hull commissioned Energy & Utility Skills to undertake a
comprehensive skills study of the UK’s offshore wind industry and to provide a specific
focus on that industry in the Humber region.
The purpose of the study is to provide a deeper understanding of nature and extent of
workforce supply and demand issues within the development, construction and operation
of the UK’s offshore wind energy sector through to 2032.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following:
1.1 Objectives
In order to achieve this purpose, the following objectives were set:
1. To carry out a desk-top review of all existing research, studies and reports on
the offshore wind sector skills and education – regionally and nationally
2. To understand what industry forums – locally, regionally and nationally – are
involved in offshore wind sector skills and education as well as what activities /
forums / meetings they are holding
3. To understand what activity is being carried out in The Energy Estuary by the
relevant local Councils, the Local Enterprise Partnership and other providers
4. To produce a project-by-project lifecycle timeline of the UK offshore wind
industry. To include all development, construction, operational & maintenance
and decommissioning activities
5. The production of job role-level employment projections for the above timeline
(building on the work recently completed by Cambridge Econometrics)
6. To produce a report setting out the results of each of the above objectives,
including:
• A summary of the research carried out
• The issues highlighted by the reports / studies / initiatives
• The gaps identified during the research
• Recommended next steps
1.2 Our Approach
The approach taken in undertaking this research consisted of five stages:
Project Employment Literature Expert

Reporting
pipeline projections review interviews
Project Pipeline
A pipeline of existing and planned offshore wind projects was developed using a range of
sources, primarily RenewableUK’s Wind Energy Database1. The data obtained from this
database was augmented with data from other sources, such as the TEC Register (as at
23/11/2017), individual company websites and www.4coffshore.com.
This “bottom-up” approach was chosen so that a wholly transparent project pipeline could
be produced which would enable us to examine it in terms of the size (MW and number of
turbines), location (linked to standard Government regions) and, crucially, the timing of the
construction and operational phases of (i) the constituent projects and (ii) the industry as a
whole.
Employment Projections
In 2017 Cambridge Econometrics (CE) were commissioned by the University of Hull, on

behalf of Aura and Green Port Hull, to produce employment projections for the UK
offshore wind industry2. Given that the approach employed by CE to produce those
estimates is now well established, having been developed in 20113 and repeated in 20134,
it was decided not to attempt to produce a new set of employment projections for this
study.
However, given that the project pipeline developed by this study suggests that total
installed capacity by 2032 could reach 35GW (11GW higher than reported in the 2017
report), it was necessary to provide an estimate of the additional direct employment
demands of the industry.
1 http://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDhome, accessed on 28th November 2017.

2 Future UK Employment in the Offshore Wind Industry, Cambridge Econometrics, June 2017.
3 Working for a Green Britain, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills, February 2011.
4 Working for a Green Britain & Northern Ireland 2013-23, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills,
September 2013.
The estimate of future employment levels produced in this study were developed by
Energy & Utility Skills using the high-level labour coefficients used in the 2017 report. We
offer these employment estimates as one possible future scenario.
Literature Review
There have been many previous studies of the potential of the UK offshore wind industry
from many different perspectives (e.g. its contribution to the UK energy mix, technological
development, employment potential, cost reduction, etc.). Therefore, it was clearly
important to review this previous learning and incorporate it into this new study.
A wide range of reports produced by, for example, government departments, universities,
local / regional bodies, technology developers, energy companies, etc. were reviewed. In
addition, several data sources were analysed which relate to the wider UK infrastructure
sector (e.g. National Infrastructure Plan), the labour market (e.g. various Office for
National Statistics surveys) and the supply of skills into it (e.g. higher education
achievement and destinations). Clearly, it was important to consider the timeliness of
each source; ensuring that only those that were still relevant were included.
A full bibliography is included in Annex 1.
Expert Interviews
Finally, we identified 28 companies that we would contact and seek their views on the
current and future state of skills and labour demand. These companies were identified
from Aura’s and Energy & Utility Skills’ existing networks and contacts.
We were only able to interview representatives from seven of these companies, although
several of these are major players in the offshore wind industry:
• Boston Energy (provider of recruitment, training and wind turbine services)
• GEV Group (blade maintenance, inspection and repair)
• JDR Cables (inter-array cables and product systems)
• Ørsted (developer, constructor and operator)
• Scottish Power (operator)
• Siemens Gamesa (developer, constructor and operator)
• SSE (operator)
The reasons why it has been so difficult to gain direct employer input into this study is
unclear but may reflect a certain amount of “survey fatigue” given that engagement is also
occurring in relation to the Offshore Sector Deal and that, for many companies, skills
issues may not be a high priority at the moment.
We have also incorporated into this study the collective knowledge of colleagues from
within both Aura and Energy & Utility Skills, which has built up from many years’
experience of working in the wind and wider energy sector.
Reporting
All the analysis and findings from the above activities are included within this report.
3. Executive Summary
Aura and Green Port Hull commissioned Energy & Utility Skills to undertake a
comprehensive skills study of the UK’s offshore wind industry and to provide a specific
focus on that industry in the Humber region.
The purpose of the study is to provide a deeper understanding of nature and extent of
workforce supply and demand issues within the development, construction and operation
of the UK’s offshore wind energy sector through to 2032.
Offshore Wind – Industry Growth Potential (the project pipeline)
The UK offshore wind industry is moving fast from a niche technology to becoming a
mainstream supplier of low-carbon electricity.
The project pipeline developed specifically for this study highlights the growth potential of
the industry – there are currently more wind farms being constructed and planned than
there are in operation (34 compared to 31) and the total power output could grow from
6.4GW in 2017 to 35GW by 2032.
By 2032, the UK could see more than 35GW of

offshore wind generating capacity in its waters
The pipeline contains details of 65 known / planned projects, all of which, if consented and
constructed, could be built by 2032. The current situation is:
• 6.4GW is operational
• 8.1GW is being constructed
• 8.5GW has been given consent, but not yet started construction
• 12.1GW is being planned
Clearly there are many factors which can affect whether a planned wind farm ultimately
becomes operational; for example, planning consents, the financial/ investment
environment, government policy, etc. Therefore, we cannot be certain that all nine wind
farms that have received consent and the ten that are in the planning stage will become a
reality.
Therefore, this scenario of 35GW by 2032 should be seen as an ambitious, yet credible,
scenario for the UK offshore wind industry (similar scenarios (around 30GW by 2030) are
now reported by several other sources). This demonstrates the potential of the industry to
play a major role in the UK’s energy mix at a fast-reducing cost (in 2015 subsidies were
between £114 and £120 per megawatt hour; in 2017 this had fallen to £57.50).
The vast majority of the potential growth is expected to occur in the North Sea, meaning
that the regions along the eastern seaboard of the UK (particularly the East of England
(up to 8.5GW), Scotland (up to 7.5GW), Yorkshire & Humber (up to 6.4GW) and North
East (up to 4.9GW) could increase their share of UK offshore wind capacity from 33% in
2017 to 60% by 2032.
Peak construction of the project pipeline is estimated to be, firstly, in 2019 (when 8.6GW
will be in construction) and, secondly, in 2024 (when 9.5GW will be in construction). By
2028, all 35 projects will either be operational or in construction.
The turbine technology being employed is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and
larger – with the average operational turbine in 2017 being 4MW; the average turbine
currently being installed is 7MW, and the average turbine in pre-consented projects is
10MW. There is evidence that turbines could reach 13-15MW by the mid-2020s and that
capital costs could be reduced by 25-30%.
Overall, between the start of 2018 and 2032:

• Installed capacity could increase five-fold from 6.6GW to 35GW
• The number of turbines could more than triple from 1,660 to 5,358
Offshore Wind – Predicted Employment Opportunities
It is very difficult to estimate the likely scale of employment growth within a specific
industry with certainty, especially in one that is as fast-developing, technologically-driven
as offshore wind. However, we can be certain that a likely three-fold increase in the
number of operational turbines will result in a substantial increase in employment
compared to current levels.
Therefore, the employment estimates presented in this study, increasing from 10,000 jobs
in 2017 to 36,000 in 2032, represent one possible scenario of an uncertain, yet almost
certainly bright, future.
Direct employment in offshore wind could reach

36,000 by 2032
The location of this employment growth will, unsurprisingly, occur in those regions which
will support the capacity growth in the North Sea, particularly Scotland (+6,400 jobs), East
of England (+6,150), Yorkshire & Humber (+5,750) and North East (+4,050).
Employment levels are expected to increase in all phases of the project lifecycle, but
particularly in Construction & installation (+6,700) and Operations & maintenance
(+6,900). It is not expected that Decommissioning / repowering will experience significant
jobs growth in the period to 2032.
Employment demand will be strongest for technicians and engineers, with an estimated
additional requirement for 10,200 by 2032. This represents nearly half of new job creation
and reflects the highly-skilled, technical nature of many of the tasks undertaken by the
workforce.
However, the study has found that there are several factors could have a significant
impact on the job creation (in addition to the factors stated above which may impact on
the deployment of the project pipeline), such as the workforce strategies employed by
owner / operators, technological progress / innovation and the speed / direction of industry
maturing and consolidation.
Competition for Skills – Energy and Infrastructure Sectors
Over the next four years, £240billion will be invested in refurbishing and expanding the
UK’s essential infrastructure. The largest investments will be made in transport (£78.5bn),
energy (£57bn) and the utilities (£47.5bn).
The offshore wind industry is the largest recipient of investment in the energy sector, with
£18bn included for the expansion of generating and transmission infrastructure. The
resulting demand for labour is likely to be significant – totalling around 760,000 people by
2024 (including 160,000 new jobs and replacing 600,000 retirements).
With more than £240bn being invested in the UK’s

infrastructure, competition for skilled talent will be
intense
The availability of new talent could be an issue given that the labour market is currently
extremely tight (record high employment and low unemployment) and shows little sign of
easing – a situation that could be further impacted upon by post-Brexit immigration
policies. Indeed, it is estimated that the UK is already short of around 20,000 engineering
graduates per year.
Therefore, increasing the size of the available labour pool from which employers can
recruit will be crucial – particularly in terms of attracting more females and those from a
BAME background.
Furthermore, it will be essential that the offshore wind industry and its regional supply
chains work together to ensure maximum access to the talent it needs – and to minimise
the extent to which they compete for that talent. Business as usual will not be the optimal
approach!
Skills Supply and Demand
The UK has a long history of creating a world class offshore workforce – from R&D
through to operations and maintenance. This tradition continues with the UK leading the
way in offshore wind deployment.
Many of the base skillsets needed for offshore electricity generation and transmission are
similar to those already being demanded across the wider energy sector – both onshore
and in the oil and gas fields (where, it should be noted, workforce reductions have
slowed). Also, in addition to the critical technical roles required, business, commercial,
stakeholder / supply chain management and advanced first aid and rescue skills are also
central to a successful future.
Direct feedback from employers for this study suggests that attracting new talent isn’t a
major problem at the moment for the large companies in the offshore wind industry –
certainly, many of the owner / operators and larger OEMs appear to have few difficulties in
filling vacancies, be they for Apprentices or experienced hires. However, there is
evidence to suggest that talent attraction and retention within the supply chain, particularly
for SMEs, could be slightly more of a challenge.
The skills that are crucial to the success of the industry moving forward, and in
maintaining the UK’s status as a leader of offshore wind development and deployment,
include:
• Asset management
• Project management
• Leadership
• Engineers and technical skills – mechanical, electrical and control &
instrumentation, blade and turbine technicians
o Increasingly, many of these roles now require elements of IT / network
system skills, as areas such as fault findings and systems / performance
monitoring are done through electronic, rather than mechanical, means
• Scientists – marine biology, geophysics, hydrography, oceanography
• Advanced first aid and rescue
• Offshore-specific skills – confined spaces, working at heights, team working,
team living, etc.
Discussions with employers for this study have also highlighted the need to consider
modular upskilling provision in leadership, updating / refreshing knowledge and
understanding of safety rules and regulations and in advanced first aid and rescue (this
provision should be similar in content and learning to that seen for mountain rescue-type
situations and injuries).
Furthermore, the offshore wind industry will continue to develop tomorrow’s innovators5,
particularly in areas such as vessels and logistics, subsea cables and transmission,
foundations, turbines, artificial intelligence, robotics and data analytics.
The supply of skills that the industry can call upon is mixed. The regions along the east of
the UK, where the majority of offshore wind growth is expected to occur, appear to be
relatively strong in terms of level 2 and 3 qualifications (the feedstock of Apprentices and
technicians). However, there are issues reported by employers which relate to
Apprenticeships including:
• How well is the full range of Apprenticeship frameworks and standards
promoted and understood by employers across the industry’s supply chain?
• How companies are approaching the Apprenticeship Levy (i.e. the extent to
which it influences their skills development strategies)
• Whether the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Policy could be better promoted
and utilised to maximum effect for the industry and its supply chain
• The availability of training provision where it is required most
• Trainees being unable to gain the required on-the-job experience when
access to offshore sites (i) cannot being gained while under 18 years of age
and (ii) can be costly given that “down-time” of a site can be very expensive
and, therefore, is kept to a minimum (meaning that training on-site can be a
significant hidden cost)
The availability of Apprenticeship training and higher-

level skills could be a challenge in some regions of
the UK
The availability of locally-sourced higher-level skills may be an issue given the number of
graduates leaving universities with relevant degrees. In 2015 / 16 there were 9,185 UK
graduates with relevant degrees to the offshore wind industry. Universities in the East
Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber produced 1,900 graduates from relevant disciplines in
2015 / 16 (740 of them in mechanical engineering). However, universities in the North
East (595) and East of England (185) were not so successful.
5Offshore Renewable Energy Science and Innovation Audit. A Science and Innovation Audit Report
sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Undated. Ibid.
As the population of the UK grows and changes in composition – with white males
becoming a smaller proportion of the population – the offshore wind industry (as well as
the wider energy, infrastructure and engineering sectors) needs to consider how it can
make the most of the talent available to them, including females and those from a BAME
background.
Action on these points is required in order to help the industry deliver on its potential and
keep the UK at the forefront of the global industry. Solutions should seek to:
• Maximise the extent to which the local communities can benefit from the
success of the industry
• Engage with the whole supply chain – ensuring that access to talent, training
provision and the promotion of skills development as a principle is embedded
throughout the entire industry
This is a dynamic, fast-paced and growing industry and, coupled with its green
credentials, can provide a wide range of career opportunities to both new entrants and
experienced workers. The challenge will be in promoting these opportunities to all
sections of the community in a way that benefits the whole supply chain.
Energy Estuary
Already designated a Centre for Offshore Renewable Engineering (one of six COREs in
England), these are exciting times along the Humber estuary, which is leading the UK
renewables sector.
Offshore wind generating capacity is predicted to increase from 0.9GW in 2017 to 7.7GW
by 2032 (22% of total UK capacity), including the installation of more than 1,000 new
turbines. This could see employment in the Region growing to more than 9,200 (from
1,500 in 2017).
Gaining the required talent, although not a significant problem at the moment, may
become more challenging as the project pipeline becomes a reality and, at the same time,
the regional workforce will have to satisfy the demands of over £14bn of investment in the
wider energy and infrastructure sector across the region. While offshore wind is a
significant element of this investment, other energy, utilities and transport infrastructure
will likely provide strong competition for good operative, technical and engineering skills in
particular – which could reach demand for 100,000 people by 2024, including 30,000
skilled trades and nearly 30,000 operatives, technicians and engineers.
The ability of the regional labour market to meet these talent demands is unclear – while
the region has a high proportion of people with level 2 and 3 skills (forming a good
operative and skilled trades base) it may well lack the required higher-level skills, with
fewer than 1,900 graduates in 2015 / 16 with relevant degrees from the region’s
universities.
As a result of this significant economic activity, a number of initiatives and collaborations
aimed at supporting the industry along the Energy Estuary have already been established,
including organisations such as Green Port Hull, Humber LEP and Team Humber Marine
Alliance. Each of these organisations have already established skills-related groups or
networks with a view to identifying the issues affecting the development of both
technology and the required workforce / skills.
Recommendations
The main recommendations for the sector to consider are (full details are provided in
chapter 8 below):
1. Promote skills development throughout the supply chain. A practical
example of this could be the application of the Procurement Skills Accord
principles within the sector.
2. Promote and facilitate investment in skills for the benefit of the whole
sector. A practical example could be to use the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer
Policy to benefit supplier workforce development
3. Consider the creation of a talent network for the offshore wind industry.
Many energy and utilities companies use Talent Source Network to promote
their vacancies and source appropriate candidates.
4. Encourage and facilitate supply chain collaboration to aggregate training
demand. This could help ensure that appropriate training provision –
particularly that which is low volume / high cost – is available when and where
needed.
5. Consider ways of supporting the workforce in gaining valuable on-the-
job / practical experience before going offshore – maximising their
exposure to “real world” situations and assets prior to going offshore
6. Investigate the potential for on-line, distance learning upskilling /
refresher modules, particularly in upskilling and refreshing leadership, H&S
and safety regulations.
7. Promote STEM educational progression and the opportunities and
career pathways available for higher-level achievers, allowing more of the
local population to benefit from the planned expansion.
8. The sector to consider how to bring about common technical training
and H&S standards and relevant passport schemes – enabling the free(er)
movement of skills between technologies, companies and other sectors.
9. Consideration should be given to how the Aura can develop its own
value proposition for the industry / region, bringing together existing
organisations, networks, fora, etc. There are several agencies that aim to
support the workforce development needs of the offshore wind industry along
Energy Estuary and Aura needs to establish itself in that landscape.
10. Facilitate the engagement between employers and schools and other
education institutions in a way that maximises the impact for the whole sector /
regional supply chain.
11. Consider activities to promote the offshore wind industry to females,
BAME and other under-represented communities
12. Regularly review the offshore wind project pipeline and high-level
employment projections for the UK in order to maintain visibility of industry
labour demands
13. Regularly review the nature, timing and labour demands other major
infrastructure projects in the area.
Many of the recommendations above revolve around building industry collaboration – not
just horizontally across the larger companies (e.g. Scottish Power, SSE, Siemens, Ørsted,
etc.), but throughout the supply chain. Many of the tier 2 and below suppliers face
difficulties in recruiting and training that many of the larger companies do not.
Therefore, the Offshore Wind Sector Deal6 really does need to work for the whole sector –
taking all tiers forward together.
6 As introduced by Government in Industrial Strategy (2017) are partnerships between government

and industry aiming to increase sector productivity. The Offshore Wind Industry Council is currently
leading on the development of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal.
4. The UK Offshore Wind Industry –
Now and in the Future
Headlines
• The offshore wind industry is moving fast from a niche technology to
becoming a mainstream supplier of low-carbon electricity.
• The current project pipeline contains of 65 current and planned projects and
totals 35GW:
o 6.4GW is operational
o 8.1GW is being constructed
o 8.5GW has been given consent, but not yet started construction
o 12.1GW is being planned
• Although ambitious, this scenario should be seen as a credible scenario for
the UK offshore wind industry
• The regions with the highest potential offshore capacity by 2032 are East of
England (8.5GW), Scotland (7.5GW), Yorkshire & Humber (6.4GW) and
North East (4.9GW).
• The number of operational turbines is expected to grow from 1,660 in 2017
to 5,400 in 2032, with the average turbine capacity increasing from 4MW to
10MW
• So, although generating capacity is forecast to grow by 430% by 2032, the
number of turbines will grow by a more modest 225% - reflecting the
increasing power of turbines
• Peak construction of the current pipeline will be in 2024, when 9.5GW will be
in construction. By 2028, all projects in the current pipeline will either be
operational or in construction.
3.1 Introduction
This section provides a detailed analysis of the future potential of the UK’s offshore wind
industry through to 2032.
The approach used was based on identifying each operational and planned project from a
range of sources, primarily RenewableUK’s Wind Energy Database7 and augmented with
data from the TEC Register (as at 23/11/2017), individual company websites and
www.4coffshore.com.
This “bottom-up” approach was chosen so that a wholly transparent project pipeline could
be produced that would allow analysis in terms of size (MW and number of turbines),
location (linked to standard Government regions) and timing of the construction and
operational phases of each wind farms.
All efforts have been made to ensure that this project pipeline is accurate at the time of
writing and, where assumptions have been applied, these have been made in good faith.
In total, 65 individual projects were identified at various stages of development:

• 31 were already operational
• 15 are under construction
• 9 have received consent (but not yet under construction)
• 10 are being planned (but not yet received consent)
For the purposes of this study, it is assumed that all projects in the pipeline will receive
consent, be constructed and become operational before 2032 (where necessary,
assumptions have been made relating to the likely / possible timing and duration of the
construction phase).
The resulting project pipeline has a total generating capacity of 35GW by 2032.
When compared to the Cambridge Econometrics report for Aura in 20178, where a high
scenario of 24GW by 2032 (going on to reach 40GW by 2040) was detailed, this new
scenario may seem very high. However, the difference between the two scenarios
primarily relates to the inclusion of planned, but not yet consented, projects in this new
project pipeline.
Clearly there is a possibility that some of the consented and planned projects may not
come to fruition. However, a potential “30 by 30” scenario (30GW operational by 2030), is
supported by other recent research:
• Aurora reports that, with favourable economic and regulation conditions,
30GW by 2030 is achievable9.
• BVG Associates report an “upside” scenario of nearly 30GW10.
• Wind Europe’s report into potential scenario for the European offshore market
contains a “High” scenario in which the UK achieves 30GW by 2030, and a
“Central” scenario in which 22.5GW is installed (which coincides with our
pipeline excluding pre-consented projects)11.
9 The new economics of offshore wind, Aurora Energy Research, January 2018.
10 Unleashing Europe’s offshore wind potential: A new resource assessment, BVG Associates and
Wind Europe, June 2017.

11 Wind energy in Europe: Scenarios for 2030, Wind Europe, September 2017.
Therefore, the project pipeline detailed in this report should be seen as an ambitious, yet
realistic, level of installed capacity by 2032.
Finally, it is interesting to note how predictions for the growth of offshore wind capacity
have changed over the years. In the pipeline presented below, we estimate that 12GW will
be operational by 2021 – which is in line with the low scenario reported by RenewableUK
and Energy & Utility Skills in 201112.
Furthermore, we estimate that 17GW will become operational by 2023 – similar to the
medium scenario reported in the 2013 update of the 2011 report13.
3.2 The Project Pipeline

As at February 2018, there was 6.4GW of offshore wind installed capacity around the UK,
with a further 8.1GW currently being constructed (1.5GW of which is expected to become
operational during 2018 and all of it operational by 2024). 8.5GW has been given consent
and 12.1GW of projects are being planned.
Figure 1: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – generating capacity
Under Planned
Operational construction Consented (pre-consent) Total
Generating
6.4GW 8.1GW 8.5GW 12.1GW 35GW
capacity
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate based on RenewableUK Wind Energy Database, TEC register and
company websites.
Figure 2 below compares each phase of the project pipeline by several different metrics –
generating capacity, number of wind farms, number of turbines and the average turbine
capacity.
This chart clearly shows the potential of the offshore wind industry, with just under one-
fifth (18%) of the project pipeline currently operational (compare this to the onshore wind
industry, where 66% of the project pipeline is already operational).
There are more offshore wind farms being planned

than there are currently in operation
12Working for a Green Britain, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills, February 2011.
13Working for a Green Britain and Northern Ireland 2013-23, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility
Skills, September 2013.
Figure 2: Characteristics of the UK offshore wind project pipeline
Source: RenewableUK Wind Energy Database
Looking further ahead, research by Aurora Energy Research14 estimates that turbine sizes
could increase to around 13-15MW by the mid-2020s (reducing capital costs by 25-30%
and further reducing the number of people needed to construct, install, operate and
maintain).
So, as the offshore project pipeline becomes a reality, we will see a trend towards:
1. Individual wind farms generating more MW
2. Individual wind farms containing a greater number of turbines
3. Larger turbines (in terms of generating capacity) being installed
So, a point to note is that the predicted increase in GW output (+430% over 2017 levels)
will not require a commensurate increase in the number of turbines (a forecast increase of
225%) or the required workforce (which is more aligned to the growth in turbines – more
details in section 4 below).
Potential Installed Capacity around the Regions
Of the currently operational capacity, 24.7% is located in the South East, with 24.2% in
the East of England and 21.1% in the North West. Construction activity is concentrated
in the Yorkshire & Humber area – accounting for 2.6GW, or 31.9% of total construction
activity.
14 The new economics of offshore wind, Aurora Energy Research, January 2018.
Only three regions currently have consented projects (prior to construction) – North East,
Scotland and East of England.
Of the planned (pre-consent) projects, the majority are planned around the East of
England (5GW; 41.4% of planned projects), while Yorkshire & Humber (3.4GW; 28.1%)
and Scotland (3.4GW; 27.7%) account for nearly all of the remainder.
In total, the East of England (8.5GW), Scotland (7.5GW), Yorkshire & Humber (6.4GW)
and North East (4.9GW) have the greatest growth potential through to 2032.
Figure 3 below shows the total planned offshore wind capacity by project phase and
region.
Figure 3: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – generating capacity by region
company websites.
Future growth of the offshore wind industry is focussed on the North Sea – and the
regions along the eastern seaboard of the UK.
Not only is overall installed capacity expected to grow substantially over the coming years,
but the scale of individual projects is also increasing.
There are currently an estimated 1,660 turbines in operation in UK coastal waters, with a
further 1,290 turbines currently being constructed.
In total, the number of turbines could increase to around 5,400 by 2032 should the entire
project pipeline be delivered – an overall increase of 225% over current numbers.
Figure 4 shows details of the current project pipeline in terms of the number of turbines in
each region by project phase.
Figure 4: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – number of turbines by region
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate based on RenewableUK Wind Energy Database,
www.4COffshore.com, TEC register and company websites.
3.3 Project Timelines
The current known offshore wind pipeline contains details of 34 individual projects that are
not yet operational; 23 of these are large-scale projects (i.e. 500MW or more).
Information relating to the timing of the construction phase and the year in which each
wind farm is expected to become operational have been derived using publicly available
sources (e.g. company websites, RenewableUK’s Wind Energy Database, etc.) and,
where possible, direct from the relevant developers and owner / operators. Where detailed
dates / timings have not been accessible, we have estimated these (this mostly relates to
those projects that are currently pre-consented).
Figure 5 below shows the predicted construction timeline for the 23 large-scale (i.e.
500MW or greater) offshore wind farms over the coming years.
Figure 5: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – construction timescales for large (500MW+) projects
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate based on RenewableUK Wind Energy Database, TEC register and company websites.
Figure 6 below shows the predicted timing of construction activity associated with the
known project pipeline as described above. It also shows the levels of installed capacity
as projects become operational.
Figure 6: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – in-year construction and aggregated
generating capacity
company websites.
This chart shows two peak periods of construction activity:

• 2019 – when 8.6GW of construction activity will be taking place
• 2023 to 2025 – during this three-year period, at least 8.5GW of capacity will be
in construction (peaking in 2024 at 9.5GW)
It is predicted that all 34 projects in the current pipeline will be operational by 2030.
Clearly there will be subsequent, currently unknown, projects entering the pipeline over
the coming years that will add further MWs under construction during 2030 to 2032 – thus
avoiding the construction “cliff edge” shown in the final two years of the chart.
3.4 Conclusions
The project pipeline developed for this study highlights the growth potential of the UK
offshore wind industry – there are more wind farms being constructed and planned than
there are currently in operation (34 compared to 31) and the total power output could grow
from 6.4GW in 2017 to 35GW by 2032. There is a similar picture developing across
Europe, where 12.6GW could grow to 64GW by 203015.
Clearly, there are many factors which could affect whether a planned wind farm ultimately
becomes operational, for example planning consents, the financial / investment
environment, government policy, etc. Therefore, it is not certain that all nine wind farms
that have received consent and the ten that are in the planning stage will become a
reality. This level of uncertainty makes planning the workforce and skills requirements
very difficult (more on this in the following chapter).
However, the project pipeline does give a real sense of the potential for the offshore wind
industry to play a major role in the UK’s energy mix at a fast-reducing cost (in 2015
subsidies were between £114 and £120 per megawatt hour; in 2017 this had fallen to
£57.5016).
The vast majority of the potential growth is expected to occur in the North Sea, meaning
that the regions along the eastern seaboard of the UK (particularly the East of England,
Scotland, Yorkshire & Humber and North East) could increase their share of UK offshore
wind capacity from 33% in 2017 to 60% by 2032.
Peak construction of the project pipeline is estimated to be, firstly, in 2019 (when 8.6GW
will be in construction) and, secondly, in 2024 (when 9.5GW will be in construction). It is
anticipated that all 34 projects will be operational by 2030.
The turbine technology being employed is becoming increasingly more powerful

sophisticated – with the average operational turbine in 2017 being 4MW; the average
turbine currently being installed is 7MW, and the average turbine in pre-consented
projects is 10MW. There is evidence that turbines could reach 13-15MW by the mid-2020s
and that capital costs could be reduced by 25-30%.
The associated labour requirements of this scenario are discussed in the next chapter.
15 Unleashing Europe’s offshore wind potential A new resource assessment, BVG Associates & Wind
Europe, June 2017
16 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41220948, assessed on 30th April 2018.
4. Future Employment Opportunities
in Offshore Wind
Headlines
• It is estimated that direct employment levels could increase from around
10,000 to 36,000 in 2032.
• Scotland is forecast to experience the largest growth in employment
(+6,400), followed by East of England (+6,150), Yorkshire & Humber
(+5,750) and North East (+4,050)
• Employment levels are expected to increase in all stages of the project
lifecycle, but primarily in Construction & installation (+6,700) and Operations
& maintenance (+6,900).
• Employment demand will be strongest for technicians and engineers, with an
estimated additional requirement for 10,200 by 2032.
• However, factors that could determine the nature and extent of employment
growth include:
o The rate and impact of technical innovation
o Offshore workforce transit and use of next generation service operation
vessels (SOVs)
o Operation and maintenance resourcing strategy
• The industry is forecast to become more efficient in its use of labour – in
2017 an estimated 1.75 FTEs were required to produce 1MW of power; this
is expected to fall to 1.04 FTEs by 2032
• During the period up to 2032, it is not expected that Decommissioning /
repowering will require any significant growth in the workforce.
4.1 Introduction
The offshore wind industry is a fast-paced, developing industry and, just as it is difficult for
individual companies to plan their workforce requirements in this environment, it is equally
difficult to predict industry-level demands. However, it is important that agencies working
to support the development of the industry are given a sense of the direction and scale of
the likely workforce requirements – and this chapter offers one potential future scenario
(just as the project pipeline does in the previous chapter.)
In 2017, Aura commissioned Cambridge Econometrics to produce employment estimates
for the UK offshore wind industry17 based on an established approach utilised in 2011 and
201318,19. Included in their report was a “high” scenario of 24GW by 2032. Under this
scenario, it was estimated that 25,000 people would be directly employed in the offshore
wind industry.
These estimates were based on a set of input assumptions relating to:

• Industry wide learning rates – increase in efficiency of 9% for every doubling
of total capacity deployed in the UK
• Average windfarm size and resulting economies of scale from this increasing
over time
• Current and potential future locations of UK offshore windfarms.
• UK and EU projected offshore wind capacity and local content
• Prospect of future decommissioning / repowering activities (these activities are
expected to have minimal impact on workforce requirements through to 2032)
However, as we seen in the previous chapter, the project pipeline developed for this skills
study suggests that it is possible for the UK to achieve 35GW by 2032. The principal
difference between these two scenarios being the inclusion of planned, but not yet
consented, projects within the project pipeline developed for this study. It would, therefore,
be reasonable to assume a greater demand for labour and skills for this study compared
to the 2017 report.
Therefore, it was felt necessary to augment the 2017 direct employment estimates with
the workforce requirements of this higher, more ambitious scenario.
The approach utilised to do this was based on using the same labour coefficients as used
by CE to estimate 25,000 people required to deliver 24GW by 2032 – starting with 1.75
FTEs per MW in 2017, decreasing to 1.04 FTEs per MW by 2032. This downward trend in
the number of FTEs per MW reflects the efficiency gains that are expected within the
industry over the coming years. This is already occurring in the onshore wind industry
where, although generating capacity is expected to increase by 50% (and the number of
turbines by 43%) over the coming years, employment is only expected to grow by 12%.
These labour coefficients were then applied to determine the additional workforce
requirements of an extra 11GW of generating capacity.
18 Working for a Green Britain, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills, February 2011.
19 Working for a Green Britain & Northern Ireland 2013-23, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills,
September 2013.
So, while it is not within the remit of this study to produce definitive new employment
estimates for the industry, the data presented below is provided to add context and a
sense of scale to a growing industry and the extent to workforce requirements will
increase.
4.2 Employment Estimates

Employment levels in the offshore wind industry currently stand at 10,000 and are
predicted to increase to 36,000 by 2032 – an increase of 260% (reflecting the 225%
increase in the predicted number of operational turbines).
Figure 7 below provides a breakdown of total employment broken down by project stage.
Figure 7: UK Offshore wind employment growth by project stage
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate using Cambridge Econometrics 2017 employment projections as a
basis.
Employment growth is expected to occur mostly in the Operations and Maintenance and
Construction and Installation phases (although the proportion of the total workforce
working in Construction and Installation activities is predicted to fall over the period). Both
phases will account for around 26% each of the total predicted growth (52% in total).
Direct employment in offshore wind could increase to

36,000 by 2032
Figure 8 below shows the predicted growth in employment across the five broad skill
levels.
Figure 8: UK Offshore wind employment growth by broad skill level
basis.
Despite technological advances, it is anticipated that the occupational structure of the

offshore wind industry (in terms of the proportion of people working at various levels) will
remain much as it is today – with a continuing reliance on technicians and engineers. On
this basis, demand will be greatest for Technical / professional staff and Managers
(+10,200 and +7,600 respectively).
Therefore, it is likely that the main entry routes into the industry will remain as:
I. Movers from other, technically-related, industries (including ex-forces and
those from other aspects of the wider energy sector – both onshore and
offshore)
II. Apprenticeships and graduates (potentially providing a “base load” of new
talent for the next generation)
III. Movers with cross-sector skills (e.g. business / commercial, IT and data
analytics, drone / ROV operators, etc.)
Figure 9 below gives a regional breakdown of employment growth at various points in time
between 2017 and 2032.
Figure 9: UK Offshore wind employment growth by region

2017 2022 2027 2032 2017-2032 Variance
Scotland 750 2,200 4,300 7,150 +6,400
East of England 1,000 2,400 4,500 7,150 +6,150
Yorkshire & Humber 1,400 3,000 4,900 7,150 +5,750
North East 500 1,400 2,800 4,550 +4,050
East Midlands 75 400 1,100 2,000 +1,925
South East 2,400 3,600 4,000 3,500 +1,100
North West 2,600 3,700 3,900 3,000 +400
West Midlands 75 100 150 200 +125
Northern Ireland 50 100 110 100 +50
London 75 100 120 100 +25
South West 75 100 120 100 +25
Wales 1,000 1,400 1,400 1,000 +/-0
UK 10,000 18,500 27,400 36,000 +26,000
basis.
The majority of employment growth is forecast to occur along the eastern seaboard of the
UK – from the South East up to Scotland.
Factors that Could Affect Employment Demand
It is important to recognise that there are several factors that could affect nature and
extent of future employment growth and, therefore, the accuracy of the employment
estimates presented above, particularly:
1. Speed and impact of industry maturity and consolidation:
• Over the coming years, as the industry matures, consolidation (through
mergers and acquisitions) may well change the industry structure and how
services are purchased and deployed.
• Ownership models may also develop. For example, venture capitalists or
pension funds becoming owners or more joint ventures. The impact on the
employment of people is unclear at this stage – it may lead to more activities
contracted out, potentially lowering the level of UK content.
• The introduction of common technical and engineering standards across the
industry introduce efficiencies in a range of areas (from engineering design
and manufacture through to installation and maintenance).
2. O&M manpower strategies:

• The strategies employed by owner / operators to staff their O&M activities
post-warranty.
At the time of writing there seems to be little consensus across the industry as
to the way forward for operators in terms of staffing O&M activities beyond the
standard 5-year warranty period. There appear to four possible approaches
(or variations thereof)20:
o Renew the O&M agreement with the incumbent wind turbine OEM (this
research has seen at least one example of this approach being
employed)
o Take the O&M function in-house
o Either “TUPE”ing workers in from OEM, or bringing back in-house their
own staff that were “inserted” into the OEM for training and development
purposes (again, this research has seen an example of this approach
being employed)
o Award the contract for O&M provision to an independent provider
o A hybrid approach – in-house, with specialist support from the OEM
3. Windfarm clustering:
• This will enable operating efficiencies and better sharing of fixed costs (e.g.
the ability to collectively negotiate with ports, reduced logistics costs and the
potential to share vessels and helicopters)
• Clustering has the potential to establishment of a large skills base
• It is recognised that the industry must realise the benefits of increased co‐
location / clustering and should do more to work collaboratively to ensure the
sustainability of the industry21.
20 GL Garrad Hassan, 2013 ‘A guide to UK offshore wind operations and maintenance’, Scottish
Enterprise and The Crown Estate.
21 The UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain: A Review of Opportunities and Barriers, M. Chinn, November
2014.
4. Offshore logistics and workforce transit:
• How companies organise the mobility of the workforce – whether based
onshore or out at sea (thus minimising transit time and maximising time on-
site and the potential for multi-site support).
• Improved performance of next generation of Crew Transfer Vehicles (CTVs)
and Service Operation Vessels (SOVs)
• Offshore-based strategies can become economical at a distance of more than
40NM from port22.
It is noted that Ørsted’s Race Bank facility will be the first offshore wind farm to
use a new SOV for O&M. The SOV can remain out at sea for up to 28 days
and will greatly improve the efficiency of maintaining the assets23.
5. Technological innovation:
• The introduction of new technologies could reduce the need for on-site human
intervention (e.g. remote surveillance in wind turbine nacelles to allow
improved remote diagnostics, expansion of ROV / drone use, etc.).
• Turbines are becoming larger, more reliable and less reliant on traditional
mechanical technologies (e.g. gearboxes), requiring less frequent
maintenance.
• Aspects of “industry learning” are taken into account in the above estimates,
meaning that additional labour efficiencies during the period to 2032 are likely
to be minimal.
6. Government policy:
• Making the industry attractive to investors is crucial maintaining the
momentum that appears to have returned to the sector.
7. Realisation or project pipeline:

• The project pipeline as detailed above includes projects that have not yet
entered their construction phase and some that have not yet received consent.
It is possible that not all the pre-consented projects will become a reality, for a
variety of reasons.
22 GL Garrad Hassan, 2013 ‘A guide to UK offshore wind operations and maintenance’, Scottish
Enterprise and The Crown Estate.
23 https://orsted.co.uk/Media/Newsroom/News/2018/02/Full-power-at-Race-Bank-Offshore-Wind-
Farm, accessed on 22nd February 2018.
4.3 Conclusions
The offshore wind project pipeline detailed in the previous chapter and the employment
estimates presented above provide strong evidence of a growing industry, with
employment opportunities in a range of roles and skill levels.
It is very difficult to estimate the likely scale of employment growth within a specific
industry with certainty, especially in one that is as fast-developing, technologically-driven
as offshore wind. However, we can be certain that a likely three-fold increase in the
number of operational turbines will result in a substantial increase in employment
compared to current levels.
Therefore, the employment estimates presented in this chapter, increasing from 10,000
jobs in 2017 to 36,000 in 2032, represent one possible scenario of an uncertain, yet
almost certainly bright, future.
However, there are several factors could have a significant impact on potential job
creation, such as the workforce strategies employed by owner / operators, technological
progress / innovation and the speed / direction of industry maturing and consolidation.
Reflecting the regional distribution of future installed capacity (focussing largely on the
North Sea), the majority of employment growth is predicted in Scotland, East of England,
Yorkshire & Humber and North East.
Employment levels are expected to increase in all phases of the project lifecycle, but
particularly in Construction & installation (+6,700) and Operations & maintenance
(+6,900). It is not expected that Decommissioning / repowering will experience significant
jobs growth in the period to 2032.
Employment demand will be strongest for technicians and engineers, with an estimated
additional requirement for 10,200 by 2032. This represents nearly half of new job creation
and reflects the highly-skilled, technical nature of many of the tasks undertaken by the
workforce.
Given the uncertain nature of the scale of offshore wind deployment, it would be wise to
refresh these employment estimates on an annual basis, keeping them up-to-date as the
project pipeline develops, technologies develop, the industry structure matures and the
industry generally becomes more efficient.
5. Competition for Talent - The Bigger
Picture
Headlines
• The UK labour market is extremely tight – with record high employment and
low unemployment
• Many firms and HR professionals report concerns about the availability of
required talent now and expect the situation to get worse in the future
• The Government’s National Infrastructure Pipeline details of £240billion of
spend on infrastructure projects by 2020/21 and an additional £218billion for
2021/22 and beyond
• Up to 2020/21, the three largest sectors are:
o Transport - £78.5bn
o Energy - £57bn (including £15.6bn for offshore wind)
o Utilities - £47.5bn
• Demand for labour in energy and infrastructure sectors through to 2024 could
reach 760,000 (equivalent to 27% of the current workforce).
o Growth in employment – 160,000
o Replacement of retirements – 600,000
• Many aspects of the transport, energy and utilities sectors will be competing
for highly skilled and talented people
• While much of this demand will not be in direct competition for skills, it will
be in indirect competition for good quality technical and managerial skills,
including mechanical / electrical / civil engineers, plant operators, logistics,
welders, cable jointers, quantity surveyors and a range of construction (and
marine) skills.
• Employment growth in onshore wind is expected to be minimal, so does not
represent any significant challenge to the offshore wind industry in terms of
being a competitor for skilled talent (although the base technical and
business/ commercial skills are similar to those required for offshore).
• Therefore, competition for high quality school leavers, Apprentices,
Graduates and those already skilled is forecast to remain high.
In addition to the demand for skills and labour from within the UK offshore wind industry, it
is important to consider the wider external context – the demand for similar skills / skilled
labour from other parts of the UK economy.
In this chapter we consider the current state of the UK labour market and planned level of
investment (both public and private) in the construction of major infrastructure projects
around the UK.
5.1 UK Labour Market Context

In a recent webinar on planning for a resilient and sustainable workforce24, Energy &
Utility Skills identified five major challenges facing the UK infrastructure sector:
1. The tightest labour market for over 40 years
2. Continued intense competition for talent
3. Supply of talent struggling to meet current demand
4. Changing population demographics
5. Adapting to an uncertain future
The Tightest Labour Market for Over 40 Years
In December 2017, there were 32.15million employed in the UK25, with offshore wind’s
10,000-strong workforce accounting for just 0.03% of total employment.
The UK labour market is arguably tighter than at any point since records began – over 40
years ago.
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (relating to the period November 2017
to January 201826) show that the UK is currently experiencing:
• High levels of employment – over 32million people in employment;
representing 75.3% of all people aged 16-64 years (joint highest employment
rate since records began in 1971)
• Low levels of unemployment – the unemployment rate stood at 4.3% (the
joint lowest level since 1975)
• Low levels of economic inactivity – the economic activity rate (the
proportion of 16-64-year-olds that are not in work or seeking it) was 21.2%
(joint lowest since comparable records began in 1971)
From this data it is clear that there is not much room for expansion in the number of
people available to fill current or future vacancies.
24 The webinar can be accessed here: http://www.euskills.co.uk/strategic-workforce-planning

25 Statistical Bulletin: UK Labour Market: 2018, accessed from
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes
/bulletins/uklabourmarket/february2018#employment on 12th March 2018.
26 Accessed from:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes
/bulletins/uklabourmarket/march2018#employment on 27th March 2018.
Continued Intense Competition for Talent
In the 12 months to February 2018, the number of vacancies in the UK economy grew by
7.4% to 816,00027. During the same period, the number of vacancies within the Water
supply, sewerage and waste management sector grew by 10.5% (around 4,000
vacancies), while vacancies in the Electricity and gas sector grew by 2.3% to around
5,000 vacancies.
The availability, or lack, of suitably skilled labour is reflected in the prevalence of

vacancies that are proving hard-to-fill by employers due to a lack of applicants with the
required skills, qualifications or experience (known as skills shortage vacancies) 28. Within
the energy and utilities sector, 36% of all vacancies in 2015 were reported as skills
shortage vacancies – the highest proportion of any sector; compared to a national
average of 23 per cent29.
Looking forward, the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) 2017 Education and Skills
Survey found that 61% of businesses were not confident there would be enough people
available in the future with the necessary skills to fill their high-skilled jobs.
Furthermore, a recent survey by CIPD suggests that 72% of HR professionals expect an

increase in competition for well-qualified talent over the next three years30. This may not
be surprising given (i) the tightness of the current labour market and (ii) the fact that by
2024 there could be an additional 850,000 jobs in the UK economy31 and it will be
necessary to replace 8million people who will have retired.
In 2015, 36% of vacancies in the energy sector were

skills shortages
This situation appears to be impacting on salary levels. The median full-time gross salary
in the UK in 2017 was £28,758, 2% higher than in 201632. Across the Electricity & Gas
sector, salaries increased 6.9%. Higher than average annual increases were recorded
across a range of occupation and skill levels:
• Elementary construction: +4.7%
• Electrical technicians: +4.2%
27 ONS Vacancy Survey (VACS02), February 2018.

28 UK Employer Skills Survey (2015), UKCES.
29 ibid
30 Resourcing and Talent Planning survey 2017, CIPD, 2017.
31 Working Futures 2014-24, Warwick Institute for Employment Research / Cambridge Econometrics,
2014.
32 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS, 2017.
• Plant operatives: +3.3%
• Engineers: +2.9% (Electrical engineers: +5.0%)
In a 2017 survey by the Open University33, 56% of all firms said they had had to increase
the salary of an advertised role to get the skills they needed.
It is unlikely that this situation will ease significantly given:

• The high level of investment being planned for UK infrastructure sector, and
particularly in the energy and utilities sector (see chapter 6.1 below)
• The associated level of demand for skilled labour (see chapter 5.3 below)
Supply of Talent Struggling to Meet Current Demand
EngineeringUK34 report that an estimated 265,000 skilled entrants are needed each year
to meet the demand from engineering companies through to 2024. Given the numbers of
such talent predicted to enter the labour each year, there could be a shortfall of some
20,000 engineering graduates per year. Further detail is provided in section 6 below.
Changing Population Demographics
The UK population is projected to increase by 3.6million (5.5%) over the next 10 years,
from an estimated 65.6million in mid-2016 to 69.2million in mid-202635.
This growth presents both an opportunity and a challenge to the UK’s infrastructure
sector. On the one hand there will be a larger pool of available labour – an extra 3.2million
people of working age and an extra 300,000 school-aged children – while on the other
hand there will be a larger population to serve (including an extra 3.9million people of
pensionable age) in terms of providing energy and utilities services and in constructing
and maintaining other essential infrastructure.
The population will also become increasingly diverse. In 2011, around 14% of the
population were Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME)36; a figure which is expected to
double by 205037. Meanwhile, in 2015 / 1638, just 5% of the power sector’s workforce
were from a BAME background.
33 The Open University Business Barometer, 2017.

34 Engineering UK 2017: The state of engineering, EngineeringUK, 2017
35 National Population Projections: 2016-based statistical bulletin, accessed from:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojecti
ons/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2016basedstatisticalbulletin on 13th December 2017.
36 Census of Population, ONS, 2011.
37 A portrait of modern Britain, Policy Exchange, 2014.
38 ONS (2016), Annual Population Survey (April 2015 to March 2016).
However, the distribution of the BAME population is focused on just three cities – London,
Greater Birmingham and Greater Manchester. Between them they account for over 50%
of the UK’s entire BAME population. Indeed, in London, BAMEs out-number the White
population in every age group up to 20.
The UK population is becoming more diverse – the

energy sector needs to follow suit
With white males with good technical skills becoming a reducing proportion of the UK
workforce, the benefits – even the necessity – of having a diverse workforce which draws
upon the skills of the whole community is clear (although employers need to be mindful of
the specific local / regional circumstances when determining how representative their
workforce is, or should be, in terms of ethnic diversity).
Adapting to an Uncertain Future
Significant shifts are predicted to occur over the coming years in:
• Population and the labour market – a growing, more diverse and older
population and workforce
• Technology and data – new technologies will change the required skillsets;
smarter networks and connectivity will provide unheard-of quantities of data;
increased use of AI and robotics for remote monitoring, access and repairs;
physical and data security will be a priority
• Brexit – competition for good quality technical skills could intensify if a
reduction in the supply of mid- and higher-level qualified labour from Europe
diminishes the available pool of labour
• Regulation and competition – Utility regulators recognising the importance
of a skilled workforce in terms of improving sector performance; increasing
levels of competition are being introduced; industry consolidation
• Customer expectations – improved customer experience is a necessity;
expectations higher than ever… and increasing
As a result, business as usual will not be an option. Organisations will need to make sure
they’re aware of these trends and of their potential impacts on their talent attraction and
retention strategies.
5.2 Investment in Major National Infrastructure
Projects
This section presents analysis of the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline,
Autumn 2017, produced by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority39.
The pipeline and its associated analysis report40 set out details of over £245billion of
planned infrastructure investment across the public and private sectors through to 2020 /
21 – a level not sustained in 40 years.
The pipeline also includes less specific details of £218billion of planned investment for
2021 / 22 and beyond; including £110 billion of electricity generation investment (partly
based on National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios (FES)).
It should be noted that this pipeline is not a comprehensive picture of likely investment
over the longer-term because government capital budgets and future price control periods
for the regulated utilities have not yet been set for the period beyond 2020 / 21. For
example, projects such as Crossrail2, Wylfa and Moorside nuclear projects and the Cardiff
and Swansea Tidal Barrages are not yet included in the pipeline.
Over the entire term of the known infrastructure pipeline, nearly £463billion of investment
is set out.
5.2.1 Investment from 2017 / 18 to 2020 / 21
The majority of investment during this period (£183bn; 74.8%) falls within three sectors:
• £78.5bn – Transport (including rail, high speed rail, roads and airports)
(32.1%)
• £57bn – Energy (including all forms of electricity generation, nuclear
decommissioning and oil & gas) (23.3%)
• £47.4bn – Utilities (defined as electricity and gas transmission and distribution,
smart meters and water & sewerage) (19.4%)
£240bn is being invested in the UK’s infrastructure –

with £57bn earmarked for the energy sector
39 National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, Infrastructure and Projects Authority, 6

December 2017.
40 Analysis of the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, Infrastructure and Projects
Authority, 6 December 2017.
Figure 10: National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline – Total spend (£m) by sector
(2017/18 to 2020/21)
Source: National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, Infrastructure and Projects Authority, 6 December
2017.
Included within the energy sector’s £57bn is £15.6bn allocated to offshore wind – the
largest single sub-sector. This is followed by Hinkley Point C at £6bn.
The utilities’ £47.4bn is largely taken up by water & sewerage (£16bn), electricity
transmission (including interconnectors; £14.6bn) and electricity and gas distribution
(£14bn combined).
The rail sector dominates the transport sector’s investment plans, including £13.4bn for
HS2. Of the remaining £61.7bn (25.2% of total investment), the largest sectors are
Education (£19bn), Housing (£12bn) and Communications (£11bn).
Figure 11 below shows the regional breakdown of investments and the proportion that is
allocated to offshore wind.
Figure 11: National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline – Annual spend (£million) by
region (2017/18 to 2020/21)
Total Offshore wind
Region / Nation £m contribution
East Midlands £7,023 61%
Yorkshire and the Humber £7,306 34%
East of England £9,631 27%
North West £11,480 9%
South East £12,243 9%
1%
North East £3,975
(Interconnectors = 23%)
London £20,708 0%
South West £11,456 0%
West Midlands £5,657 0%
Northern Ireland £50 58%
40%
Scotland £10,518
(Onshore Wind = 14%)
England £56,556 0%
Wales £2,602 0%
England and Wales £7,780 0%
England, Wales & Scotland £14,404 0%
UK-wide £62,957 0%
Grand Total £244,675 6.4%
2017.
In the East Midlands offshore wind investments account for nearly two-thirds of all the
region’s infrastructure spend. However, in Yorkshire & Humber and East of England,
although offshore wind growth is expected to be high, it will only account for around one-
third of each region’s infrastructure spend.
The implication of this is that there is much infrastructure activity planned across the UK
which the offshore wind industry will have to compete for skilled talent, particularly:
• Upstream oil and gas (£21bn)
• HS2 (£13.4bn)
• The Rail sector’s current and next price control periods (£13bn)
• Electricity Distribution (£9.5bn)
• Electricity Interconnectors (£5.4bn)
• Digital economy (£4.4bn)
• Gas Distribution (£4.4bn)
• London Underground (£4.1bn)
• Offshore transmission (£2.4bn)
5.2.2 Investment from 2021 / 22 and Beyond
In addition to the detailed investment plans for 2017/18 to 2020/21, further investments
totalling £218bn are laid out in the pipeline for the period from 2021/22 and beyond.
These plans are often less detailed and are incomplete as some government plans are yet
to be finalised and, as is the case with regulated water companies, their investments
beyond the current price control period are still being determined.
However, they do give a good indication of where current priorities lie, with significant
investments planned within electricity generation, nuclear decommissioning and the final
stages of HS2 and Hinkley Point C.
Figure 12 shows the largest investments (valued at greater than £1bn) that are included
within the 2021/22 and beyond total investments.
Figure 12: Principal Energy, Transport and Utilities investments (£1bn+ investment)
2021/22 and Beyond
Investment
Sector Projects post-2021 (£m)
Energy Electricity Generation – Unspecified generation £94,488
Transport HS2 £37,798
Energy Hinkley Point C £11,532
Energy Nuclear decommissioning £6,922
Energy Upstream Oil & Gas £6,078
Transport Rail – Intercity Express Infrastructure £5,952
Transport Rail – Future Enhancements £5,243
Energy Nuclear Decommissioning: radioactive £4,759
disposal facility
Utilities Smart Metering Implementation Programme £4,413
Energy Offshore wind: Hornsea 1 & 2; Triton Knoll; £3,900
East Anglia 1
Utilities Electricity transmission – other investments £2,734
Utilities Electricity transmission – Strategic North £2,675
Energy Nuclear Decommissioning: Plutonium disposal £2,416
Utilities Electricity transmission – Interconnectors £1,151
2017.
These 14 programmes/ projects alone account for 86% of the entire post-2021 investment
pipeline.
5.3 The Scale of Competition for Skilled Talent
Figure 13 below shows estimates of the expansion demand (i.e. new jobs) and
replacement demand (e.g. retirements) across the UK economy and for selected sectors
which are adjacent to the offshore wind industry in terms of operational, technical and
engineering skillsets between 2018 and 2024.
Figure 13: Total UK labour demand in energy and infrastructure sectors 2017-2024
Total labour % of 2017 Relevant occupational
demand workforce growth
280,000 Skilled trades
760,000 100,000 Managers
Energy &
160,000 new jobs 26.7% 80,000 Operatives
infrastructure sectors 600,000 retirements 60,000 Engineers
20,000 Technicians
1.2m Managers
8,700,000 500,000 Operatives
All Sectors 850,000 new jobs 25.8% 420,000 Engineers
8,000,000 retirements 410,000 Skilled trades
120,000 Technicians
Source: Working Futures 2014-2024, UKCES, 2016.
Note – Data is rounded to the nearest 10,000.
* includes power generation and onshore transmission and distribution
** includes onshore and offshore extraction only
Within the energy and infrastructure sectors, an estimated 760,000 people will be required
by 2024 – equivalent to replacing 26.7% of the current workforce. Furthermore, nearly 3-
out-of-4 (71.4%) of people recruited over this period will be in operative, skilled,
technician, engineering and managerial roles.
By comparison, across the whole of the UK economy, some 8.7million people will be
required, with just 28.9% of them entering jobs in the same broad occupational groups.
The scale of competition for skilled talent is clear – while offshore wind is increasing its
workforce to deliver the bulk of the current project pipeline, the wider energy and
infrastructure sector will be seeking around 760,000 people with similar or related
operational, technical or engineering skillsets. Meanwhile, the whole of the UK economy
will be seeking 8.7million people to fill new jobs and replace those that have retired.
By 2024, the UK economy will need to replace nearly

eight million retirees as well as fill 850,000 new jobs
While these macro-level forecasts provide a general indication of the level of competition
for skills and labour over the coming years, it should be recognised that they are only
macro-level estimates and do not relate to the workforce requirements of specific projects.
It is only at the project level that we start to get a real sense of the wider context and the
level of competition for talent. For example:
• Thames Tideway Tunnel will create around 4,000 direct jobs (as well as 5,000
indirectly)41.
• Crossrail 2 will support 60,000 new jobs across the UK supply chain while
under construction and 200,000 jobs across London and the South East once
operational42.
• Hinkley Point C, Wylfa Newydd and Moorside nuclear sites are expected to
create around 50,000 jobs during construction and around 3,000 jobs once
they become operational43.
• BT Open Reach Infrastructure are recruiting an additional 3,500 engineers
across the UK (the largest recruitment drive in the company’s history) to
deliver the delivery of fibre broadband services44.
• The potential number of jobs created by the proposed tidal lagoons at Cardiff,
Colwyn Bay, Newport, Swansea, Bridgewater Bay and West Cumbria could
reach as many as 34,700 during the construction phases and 6,400 once they
become operational by 203045.
5.4 UK Onshore Wind

This chapter presents the findings of research into the extent and timing of the UK
onshore wind energy pipeline as well as providing analysis of the employment
opportunities and skills requirements of the industry.
Current and Future Installed Capacity
At the time of writing, there is 11.4GW of onshore wind generating capacity in the UK, with
a further 1.5GW currently being constructed46. In addition, there is 4.3GW which has been
consented and awaiting construction. Therefore, the total project pipeline has the potential
to deliver 17.2 GW of generating capacity.
41 https://www.tideway.london/news/media-centre/thousands-of-jobs-to-be-created-as-contractors-
named-for-londons-super-sewer/, accessed on 21st March 2018.
42 http://crossrail2.co.uk/, accessed on 21st March 2018.
43 http://www.energylivenews.com/2017/06/27/uks-new-nuclear-builds-set-to-double-jobs/,
accessed on 21st March 2018.

44 http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/xxx-11364258123904, accessed on 22nd March 2018.
45 The Economic Case for a Tidal Lagoon Industry in the UK, Cebr / Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd, July
2014.
Unlike offshore wind, which is anticipated to grow much more rapidly, with new wind farms
utilising a greater number of increasingly more powerful turbines, growth in onshore wind
is expected to be much more moderate; with a plateau seemingly reached in terms of site
size and individual turbine output.
Figure 14: Characteristics of the UK onshore wind project pipeline
Figure 15 below shows the levels of current and planned onshore wind capacity by nation.
Figure 15: Onshore wind generating capacity (MW) by nation

Under Total project
Operational Consented
Region construction pipeline
MW % MW % MW % MW %
England 2,792 24.5% 64 4.3% 232 5.5% 3,088 18.0%
Northern
915 8.0% 137 9.2% 470 11.1% 1,521 8.9%
Ireland
Scotland 6,782 59.4% 1,090 73.4% 3,202 75.3% 11,075 64.6%
Wales 930 8.1% 195 13.1% 347 8.1% 1,470 8.5%
UK 11,419 100.0% 1,486 100.0% 4,251 100.0% 17,154 100.0%
Scotland currently dominates the UK onshore wind industry with 6.8GW of installed
capacity (accounting for 59.4% of current operational capacity). The current pipeline will
grow Scotland’s capacity to over 11GW (64.6% of UK onshore wind capacity).
There are currently 6,569 operational onshore wind turbines in the UK, with a further 582
currently being constructed. An additional 2,230 have been consented which, if they
become a reality, will increase the number of UK onshore turbines to 9,381.
Figure 16: Onshore wind turbines by nation

Under
Operational Consented Total
Region construction
n % n % n % n %
England 1,720 26.2% 35 6.0% 220 9.9% 1,975 21.1%
Northern
554 8.4% 57 9.8% 500 22.4% 1,111 11.8%
Ireland
Scotland 3,515 53.5% 394 67.7% 1,339 60.0% 5,248 55.9%
Wales 780 11.9% 96 16.5% 171 7.7% 1,047 11.2%
UK 6,569 100.0% 582 100.0% 2,230 100.0% 9,381 100.0%
Average
capacity per 2.1MW 3MW 3MW
turbine
Source: RenewableUK Wind Energy Database.
The average size of onshore wind turbines is expected to increase slightly as we near the
back-end of the current project pipeline, but is unlikely to increase much beyond 3MW
during this period (when 3.6MW turbines will become the norm).
Onshore Wind Employment Opportunities
In 2016, an estimated 8,500 people were employed in the UK onshore wind industry47.
This figure is very close to the estimated forecast 8,000 in the 2013 report Working for a
Green Britain48.
In that same report, a scenario was presented which anticipated 17GW of onshore
capacity by 2023 (matching exactly the project pipeline presented above in Figure 15).
The report goes on to predict that employment in onshore wind will go on to reach 9,000
by 2020/21, before falling back slightly to 8,600 by 2023.
47Low carbon and renewable energy economy final estimates (ONS), 31st January 2018.
48Working for a Green Britain and Northern Ireland 2013-23, RenewableUK and Energy & Utility
By 2023, onshore wind capacity will increase by 50%
and the number of turbines by 43% - employment
levels will remain stable
So, while total onshore generating capacity is expected to increase by 50% and the
number of operational turbines to increase by 43%, employment is expected to remain
stable – increasing by just 6% by 2020/21 before falling back to current levels by 2023.
This scenario, where additional capacity can be added to the system without any
significant in employment levels, may be a precursor to what could happen in offshore
wind – at the moment employment growth mirrors that of additional turbines (which is
significantly less than growth in total generating capacity).
However, employment in each of the various stages of the project lifecycle could vary
quite significantly. For example, in 2013, planning and development activities made up
around 30% of total employment and construction and installation jobs a further 20%.
However, by 2023, they will each account for about 10% of employment. This reflects the
effect of the slowdown in new capacity being installed.
At the same time, the number of operation and maintenance jobs will rise as the
requirement to service the additional capacity exceeds the efficiency effects. By 2023
employment in operation and maintenance activities could reach 2,800, up from just over
a 1,000 at present.
This shift in the composition of jobs away from planning and other pre-operations activities
and towards operations, maintenance and support also represents a shift away from
short-term, contracted jobs and towards permanent employment.
So, while employment growth is expected to be minimal, and so does not represent any
significant challenge to the offshore wind industry in terms of being a competitor for skilled
talent, the base technical and business/ commercial skills are similar to those required for
offshore.
5.5 Conclusions
Over the next four years, £240billion will be invested in refurbishing and expanding the
UK’s essential infrastructure. The largest investments will be made in transport (£78.5bn),
energy (£57bn; including £18bn in offshore wind) and the utilities (£47.5bn). Looking
further in the future, beyond 2021, £94bn is ear-marked for unspecified electricity
generation programmes.
The demand for labour across the energy and infrastructure sectors is likely to be
significant – totalling around 760,000 people by 2024 (including 160,000 new jobs and
replacing 600,000 retirements).
The impact of this investment on the availability of skills to the offshore wind industry will
be both direct and indirect:
• Direct competition for skills – many of the technical skills required
throughout the project lifecycle of an offshore wind farm are equally applicable
in other parts of the energy and infrastructure sector. For example,
mechanical, electrical, C&I and civil engineers, plant operators, logistics,
welders, cable jointers, quantity surveyors and a range of construction and
marine skills
• Indirect competition for skills – in developing the workforce of the future,
the offshore wind industry will be looking to attract many of the same high-
quality new entrants to the labour market as demanded by many other sectors
of the economy – both from a vocational and academic background
This clearly puts the 26,000 additional jobs in offshore wind by 2032 into the wider
context, and while onshore wind is not expected to offer much in the way of competition
for skilled talent, there are several individual projects around the UK which offshore wind
employers and agencies should be mindful of as they could seriously impact on already-
tight regional and local labour markets. For example:
• Thames Tideway Tunnel = 4,000 direct jobs (as well as 5,000 indirectly)49.
• Crossrail 2 = 60,000 new jobs during construction and 200,000 jobs once
operational50.
• Hinkley Point C, Wylfa Newydd and Moorside nuclear sites = 50,000 jobs
during construction and 3,000 jobs once operational51.
• BT Open Reach Infrastructure = 3,500 engineers52.
• Cardiff, Colwyn Bay, Newport, Swansea, Bridgewater Bay and West Cumbria
tidal lagoons = 34,700 during the construction and 6,400 once operational53.
49 https://www.tideway.london/news/media-centre/thousands-of-jobs-to-be-created-as-contractors-
named-for-londons-super-sewer/, accessed on 21st March 2018.
50 http://crossrail2.co.uk/, accessed on 21st March 2018.
51 http://www.energylivenews.com/2017/06/27/uks-new-nuclear-builds-set-to-double-jobs/,
accessed on 21st March 2018.

52 http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/xxx-11364258123904, accessed on 22nd March 2018.
53 The Economic Case for a Tidal Lagoon Industry in the UK, Cebr / Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd, July
2014.
The availability of new talent could be an issue given that the labour market is currently
extremely tight (record high employment and low unemployment) and shows little sign of
easing (it is estimated that the UK is already short of around 20,000 engineering
graduates per year). This situation could be exacerbated by post-Brexit immigration
policies.
It is expected that competition for high quality school leavers, Apprentices, Graduates and
those already skilled is forecast to remain high. Therefore, increasing the size of the
available labour pool and making the most of the talent the industry already has will be
crucial – particularly in terms of attracting more females and those from a BAME
background.
It will be important for those responsible for monitoring and addressing the needs of the
offshore wind industry to regularly update assessments of the regional and local labour
markets, including the scale and timing of other major infrastructure projects and the
ability of the local labour markets to meet the associated skills demands. By
communicating this intelligence to other agencies, including employers, the sector will be
more able to respond in a proactive manner.
Furthermore, it will be essential that the offshore wind industry and its regional supply
chains work together to ensure maximum access to the talent it needs – and to minimise
the extent to which they compete for that talent. There is a particular onus on owner /
operators and the OEMs to ensure that their recruitment and engagement activities, as
well as procurement and other working practices, can also be leveraged to the benefit of
their supply chain partners. If the offshore wind industry, throughout the entire supply
chain, is to compete for talent against the rest of the energy and infrastructure sector,
business as usual will not be the optimal approach.
6. Implications for Skills
Headlines
• To meet the needs of the whole sector, talent attraction and skills
development needs to engage with all communities.
• Skills shortages are already affecting parts of the electricity sector, with 12
of the 13 electricity-related occupations currently listed on the UK’s
Shortage Occupation List being directly relevant to the offshore wind
industry.
• Anecdotal evidence suggests that skills shortages are not having a
detrimental effect on the development of the offshore wind industry at the
moment and, where they do exist, are limited to specialist skillsets,
locations or in the supply chain.
• Skills and qualification requirements differ between the various phases of
the project lifecycle – ranging from Degrees in various engineering and
environment-related disciplines to HNC and Apprenticeship programmes.
• Regional workforces along the east coast of the UK have strong Level 2
and 3 vocational skills, although they also have lower-than-average levels
of higher-level qualifications (except Scotland). This could limit the extent
to which the local workforce can provide the required higher-level skills.
• Take-up of energy-related Apprenticeships is on an upward trajectory –
albeit with a slight reduction at the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.
• 62 separate Apprenticeship frameworks / standards have been identified
as being potentially useful to offshore wind employers, although the
availability of local training provision and trainees being able to meet the
on-the-job requirements of the training can be an issue.
• Achievement of relevant degrees are slightly up over the past five years,
though evidence still suggests a significant shortfall across engineering as
a whole – with low numbers entering the energy sector
• There continues to be an issue with the progression of learners (particularly
females) from GCSE, through A Levels and HE, into a STEM-related
career.
6.1 The Demand for Skills

There are numerous types and levels of skills demanded by the offshore wind sector –
from environmental surveys through to turbine maintenance – and the exact nature of the
skills demanded vary significantly across the project lifecycle. The table below
summarises sub-sectors that make up the offshore wind industry and the skills and
qualification requirements of each.
Figure 17: Examples of skill requirements by project stage
Sub-Sector General skills and qualification requirements
Development and project management Generally, these roles require degree-level qualifications in relevant disciplines such as
For consent applications, surveys and environmental sciences, economics, engineering and project management. Graphic design
studies are needed to analyse skills are also required.
environmental impacts and to inform Port studies: Degrees in environmental sciences, economics, engineering. Project
early wind farm design. These include management. Graphic design.
meteorological and oceanographic Geotechnical and geophysical surveys: Degrees in environmental sciences. Master’s
studies, wildlife surveys, geotechnical degree in oceanography, hydrography and geophysics.
and geophysical surveys, port studies, Wildlife surveys: Degree or HND in biology, marine biology or environmental monitoring.
visual studies, economic studies and
onshore studies.
The services are typically contracted to
specialist onshore and offshore survey
companies.
Turbine design and manufacture Requiring a mix of skill levels. Ranging from degrees in mechanical engineering and
physics to mid-range technical skills in welding, platers, electricians, fitters, etc.
Apprenticeships, Higher Apprenticeships and HNC / HND being an important route into
employment.
Vocationally-achieved technical qualification in electrical and design engineering (achieved
through an Apprenticeship of Higher Apprenticeship) – welders, platers, pipe fitters,
electricians, mechanical fitter and riggers. HNC / HND in electrical engineering. Degree in
mechanical engineering and physics.
Research and development (R&D) and design requires degrees in subjects such as
physics, electrical and mechanical engineering, and mathematics54.
Manufacturing and assembly requires craft persons and technicians.
54 Your career in offshore wind energy, BCG Associates / RenewableUK, 2010.
Balance of plant As well as high-level academic qualifications in naval architecture, marine engineering,
Including foundations, the turbine tower mechanical engineering, high voltage design engineering and technicians, geophysics and
and array cables that connect the environmental sciences, vocational and HNC / HND programmes also deliver the
turbines to each other and the offshore necessary technician-level skills.
substation. Construction and vessel-related training and certificates are also required.
Export cables connect the onshore and Turbine tower supply: Largely vocationally-achieved technical skills such as welding,
offshore substations. plating, fabrication, and blasting (achieved through a relevant Apprenticeship). Degree in
The onshore substation provides the textile technologies or manufacturing production engineering. CSCS and NEBOSH
interface between the wind farm and the accreditation.
onshore transmission grid. Foundation supply: Degree in civil, design, mechanical or fabrication engineering.
Vocationally-achieved technical skills such as CAD. CSCS accreditation. Project
management.
Cable supply: HNC / HND in electrical engineering and degree in product design
engineering (high voltage design and technicians). CPCS certification.
Substation supply: Degree in product design engineering and electrical engineering.
Project management. CIRSR certification.
Installation and commissioning Turbine and foundation installation: Degree in engineering, naval architecture and
Foundation installation is undertaken marine engineering. Vocational qualification in yacht and boatbuilding. Project
using a jack-up vessel or a floating heavy management. CPCS certification.
lift vessel. Cable installation: Degree in engineering or mechanical engineering. HNC / HND in
Cables are installed using specialist technical engineering. Appropriate vocational qualification / experience (e.g.
cable vessels equipped with cable- Apprenticeship). Project management.
handling equipment. The cables may be Installation support: Valid dive ticket. GWO module certificates. Explosive ordnance
laid and buried in a single process using disposal qualification (ISSEE). Degree in geophysics and environmental science. Vessel
a cable plough or in two stages in which (master, mate, deckhand) certifications. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
a first vessel lays the cable and a second certification.
vessel buries the laid cable using a
remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
Although the large cable manufacturers
have their own vessels, the work is
typically undertaken by specialist
contractors. These contractors also work
in oil and gas and telecomms.
During the installation, the wind turbine
manufacturer and main installation
contractors complete the installation
activities, while support services include
unexploded ordnance (UXO) surveys and
removal, the supply of guard vessels, oil-
clean up services, the supply of fuel,
waste disposal and insurance.
Operations, maintenance and service Activities are at, primarily, technician level. Relevant Apprenticeship programmes, HNC/
Operations activities provide support HND and specialist training courses (in high voltage work, working at heights, confined
during the lifetime of the wind farm to spaces and SCADA, amongst others) are demanded.
ensure maximum energy production Turbine maintenance: IRATA Level 3 certification. Technology-specific training; high-
(typically 20 to 25 years). voltage equipment handling, certification to undertake lifting, climbing and rope access
Operators generally look to use the training. Turbines are becoming much more electronic-based, needing a strong electrical /
nearest port that meets its specifications, control and instrumentation skillset.
which may not be the closest port to the Maintenance of the offshore substation: Largely specialist work with strong demand for
wind farm. technicians with high-voltage experience. HNC / HND in electrical or mechanical
Operations include day-to-day workflow engineering.
management and the use of systems to Onshore substation maintenance: Standard and specialist high voltage work. There may
store and analyse data, such as be challenges meeting the strong demand for technicians with high-voltage experience.
supervisory control and data acquisition Maintaining the turbine foundation: Specialist equipment skills. Valid diver ticket. IOSH.
(SCADA) and condition monitoring GWO certificates for offshore survival.
systems (CMS). This allows the owners Inspections of safety-critical devices including fall arrest systems, davit cranes, boat
to respond to failures and, where landing and ladders, external gates and railings and external evacuation equipment:
possible, identify potential failures before It is likely that most owner / operators will seek to train up their own technicians.
they occur. Some owners use specialist Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) monitoring: 24/7 monitoring and
contractors to provide this service, while occasional remote manual intervention, requiring several dedicated personnel per wind
others have developed in-house farm (data can also be analysed in-depth off site for condition monitoring purposes55).
capability.
55 A Guide to UK Offshore Wind Operations and Maintenance. Scottish Enterprise, 2013.
Cross-cutting Activities are primarily linked to generic offshore requirements, including marine operations
During the life of an offshore wind farm and logistics – at degree / higher technician level.
there are many activities which support Marine co-ordinator and ships agent: No specific technical knowledge or qualifications
the owner, developer, turbine are required.
manufacturer and main contractors. Warehouse manager and operative: Degree in business, retail management or
These include unexploded ordnance economics are desirable, as is Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Level 3
(UXO) surveys and removal, the supply accreditation.
of guard vessels, oil-clean up services, Vessel operations and maintenance: Degrees in marine, electrical and mechanical
the supply of fuel, waste disposal and engineering and/ or marine operations. Apprenticeships and subsequent upskilling can
insurance. provide the broader technical know-how required to succeed.
Crew transfer vessels (CTVs) typically UXO (unexploded ordnance) diver: Qualifications in Explosive Ordnance Disposal
provide transport for technicians and (EOD), valid diver tickets and Global Wind Organisation (GWO) module certificates.
spares from the onshore base to offshore EOD site manager and engineer: An advanced qualification in EOD is required. Typically
wind farms. Some wind farms gained through experience in the military or can through an International School for
supplement CTVs with full-time helicopter Security and Explosives Education (ISSEE) course.
support. Spare parts are stocked in Vessel master: The master needs certifications in Standards of Training, Certification and
onshore warehouses. Watch Keeping for Seafarers (STCW) to at least Master 200GT (STCW II/3), along with
Service operations vessels (SOVs) are ENG 1 medical, STCW95 basic training and a radio communication certificate, for example
larger and more capable than CTVs and Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) General Operators Certificate
are typically used for wind farms more (GOC). The master must also complete a stability course, a Maritime and Coastguard
than about 90 minutes transfer time from Agency (MCA) Approved Engine Course (AEC) or Marine Engine Operator Licence
port. They are effectively a floating OMS (MEOL).
base and accommodate between 60 and Vessel mate and deckhand: The deckhand requires an ENG 1 medical and STCW95
90 passengers and contain workshops, basic training, alongside an MCA AEC or MEOL. Certification in STCW III/3 is desirable.
equipment, consumables and spares.
Source: Job Roles in Offshore Wind, BVG Associates/ Green Port Hull, 2017, unless otherwise stated.
Each phase and its associated workforce has a limited duration in relation to a specific wind
farm. Once a wind farm becomes operational, it enters a 25-year phase of operation,
maintenance and servicing, during which the site development, turbine design / manufacture
and installation / commissioning activities largely become redundant (with the workforce
moving onto the next project in the pipeline).
Therefore, as we move through to 2032, we will see a gradual increase in the O&M
workforce as the level of operational generating capacity increases (accepting the previously
stated caveats of labour efficiencies, impact of new technologies, etc.)
A potential impact of the shifting of the workforce towards O&M over the coming years could
see skill issues becoming more prevalent. Research undertaken across the whole of the
wind industry by the European Wind Energy Technology Platform56 reports that, while skills
gaps (where they exist) are currently focused in the component and OEM manufacturing
sector, O&M skills gaps are predicted to take affect from 2020 and to become the principal
skills gap in the industry by 2030.
Figure 18: Predicted extent of European skills shortages (2013 to 2030)
Source: European Wind Energy Technology Platform (2013)
56
Workers wanted: The EU wind energy sector skills gap, European Wind Energy Technology Platform,
August 2013.
Of course, over the coming years, additional, currently unknown, projects will enter the
project pipeline – meaning that there is likely to be a continued need for the services, people
and skills of the pre-O&M project phases for some years to come. As a result, we should
expect to see:
1. Continued demand for degree-level qualifications (of various disciplines) to
remain strong as the project pipeline continues to grow with new projects being
added (to support the design, stakeholder engagement, consent application,
procurement and project management activities)
2. Growth in the demand for technician-level skills (via Apprenticeships and HNCs/
HNDs) as the O&M workforce grows to support a larger number of turbines
Roles and Skills Crucial for Future Success
Skills shortages are often reported across the wider engineering and energy sector57.
however, anecdotal evidence collected for this study suggests that, at present, there are few
signs that these are significant, wide-spread or hindering the development of the offshore
wind industry – although attracting high-quality talent in certain parts of the supply chain can
be difficult at times.
However, there are several skill areas that are reported as being critical to the future success
of the offshore wind industry, including:
Figure 19: Skill areas identified as being important to the future success of the offshore wind industry
Skill area Specific details
• Specifically, environmental asset management
Asset management
• Compliance and engineering
Project management • Ability to handle contracts worth £100millions+
• The ability to manage and organise teams
Leadership • Developing the leaders of the future from the technical
workforce (i.e. upskilling)
• Across a range of relevant disciplines, including
mechanical, electrical and control & instrumentation
and high voltage
Engineers • Including IT and associated network skills, enabling
fault-finding through electronic means (e.g. assessing
data on a laptop) rather than the more traditional,
hands-on, mechanic approach.
57Reviewing the requirements for high level STEM shortages. UK Commission for Employment and
Skills, in National college for wind energy DEBATE PACK Number CDP-2016/0197, Debate day 1
November 2016.
• Environmental and physical sciences – e.g. marine
Scientists biology, geophysics, physics, environmental
monitoring, oceanography.
• Particularly relating to blade and turbine maintenance
(this issue is not helped by a lack of common standards
Technicians
across technology manufacturers)
• High voltage technicians
• Advanced first aid and rescue - The types of injuries
that can occur, and the required first aid response, can
often be similar to those seen in mountain rescue-type
Health & safety
situations.
• Safety rules and regulations – regularly updated/
refreshed
Soft skills • Team working; team living, problem solving, etc.
Source: Employer interviews as part of this skills study
In addition, research undertaken by Energy & Utility Skills reports that shortages are reported
in several areas across the power sector in general that will undoubtedly impact on the
offshore wind industry; specifically:
Figure 20: Job roles reported as being in shortage in the wider UK electricity sector
Job roles
Business and commercial Maintenance technicians Protection Engineer*
Customer service and Marketing and
Site Manager*
stakeholder engagement communications
Substation electrical
Commercial capabilities Planners
engineer*
Commissioning engineers* Power System Engineer* Substation fitters
Planning / development Telecommunications and
Control Engineer*
engineer* digitisation
Quality, health, safety and
Data analytics Project Engineer*
environment engineer*
Design Engineer* Project Manager* Quantity surveyors
Jointers (HV and LV) Proposals Engineer*
Source: Many Skills One Vision: Energy and Utilities Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy: 2020, Energy &
Utility Skills Limited, 2017 and UK Shortage Occupation List.
Note: Those job roles annotated with a * are currently on the UK’s Shortage Occupation List (the other electricity-
related job role on the list, but not relevant to offshore wind, is Overhead Linesworker).
The Focus of Innovation
Furthermore, and crucial for the offshore wind industry if it is to achieve its full potential, is
the need to develop tomorrow’s innovators58, particularly in areas such as:
• Training and technical standards – industry is said to lack a consistent,
standardised training requirement for the range of roles required. Opportunities
exist for providers to shape this process and benefit from the outcome. This is
particularly for the case of re-skilling personnel who are changing sectors (e.g. oil
and gas, ex-forces, etc.)59.
• Vessels and logistics solutions – reducing direct costs, increasing access and
mitigating H&S and environmental risks (e.g. access systems (particularly as
larger turbines and towers are installed), enhanced marine co-ordination
software, personnel tracking systems and next generation workboats60).
• Subsea cables – increasingly important as projects are constructed further afield
and in more hostile environments and conditions61.
• Transmission – optimised / next generation transmission systems (e.g. high-
voltage direct current (HVDC)) and improved, lower cost materials, cabling
concepts, and installation techniques
• Foundations – novel foundation designs including both fixed and floating
concepts for low-cost foundations, particularly for water depths of greater than
35m and to support larger turbines and development of serial manufacturing
techniques for foundations
• Turbine technology62 – development of innovative materials and components
for the next generation of larger capacity (up to 15MW), higher reliability turbines
(including the design, materials and fabrication of longer blades, larger bearings,
generators and drivetrain components).
• Artificial intelligence and robotics – Remote surveillance and inspection of
offshore assets – both above and below the surface. There is significant potential
for drones and remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to offer cost-effective and safe
alternatives to human deployment in areas such as asset and environmental
inspections (including non-destruction testing) both above and below the surface.
Furthermore, the development of artificial intelligence within these technologies
and other aspects of the network system can provide optimisation of asset
performance. This appears to be an area of R&D that is now developing at pace:
58 Offshore Renewable Energy Science and Innovation Audit. A Science and Innovation Audit Report
59 Offshore Wind Innovation. Presentation given by Andy Kay, O&M Strategy Manager at the NOF
Energy Event, Siemens Gamesa 01/11/2017

60 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
62 Offshore Renewable Energy Science and Innovation Audit, Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, 2017.
o The Edinburgh Centre for Robotics recently won a £36m grant for research
into offshore robotics.
o Furthermore, the recently published Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal63
recognises the importance of these developments to the energy and,
specifically, the offshore wind industry. It recommends investing £93m from
the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund into research and development of
robotics and AI technologies for use in industries such as offshore and
nuclear energy, space and deep mining. The aim being to support safer
working practices for people in extreme environments and increase
productivity.
o The British Standards Institute is currently developing BS ISO 21384, which
will be the British standard for the specification and operation of unmanned
aircraft systems (UAS). The public consultation period on the content of the
standard is likely to be August / September 2018, with the final standard
due for publication in mid-201964.
• Data analytics – there is huge potential to harvest asset performance data and
to use that to optimise system performance, monitor and plan the replacement of
failing equipment and improve the general management of assets.
6.2 The Supply of Skills

The evidence that skills shortages are affecting the offshore wind industry are mixed – while
skills survey data suggests skills shortages are a serious issue right across the energy and
infrastructure sectors, feedback direct from employers for this study suggests the situation is
somewhat less urgent, with challenges, where they exist, being related to specific aspects/
niche skills and in various points in the supply chain.
This section looks at the supply of skills in the UK labour market and the extent to which
these may be sufficient to meet future demands.
6.2.1 Regional Labour Markets
Section 5.1 above highlighted the state of the UK labour market towards the end of 2017 and
provided evidence of:
• The tightest labour market for over 40 years
• Continued intense competition for talent
• Supply of talent struggling to meet current demand
• Changing population demographics
• Adapting to an uncertain future
63Industrial Strategy: Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal, HM Government, 2018.

64 https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/committees/50259034#in-progress, accessed on 27th
April 2018.
In terms of unemployment, regional variations go from a low of 3.3% in London to a high of
5.0% in North West, East Midlands and East of England – compared to a UK rate of 4.3%.
Figure 21: Unemployment rate for people aged 16+ by region of the UK
Region Unemployment rate
North East 4.1%
North West 5.0%
Yorkshire & Humber 4.1%
East Midlands 5.0%
West Midlands 4.1%
East of England 5.0%
London 3.3%
South East 3.7%
South West 4.1%
Northern Ireland 3.2%
Scotland 4.3%
Wales 4.8%
UK 4.3%
Source: Quarterly Labour Force Survey, November 2017-January 2018, ONS.
Conversely, over the past year, the regions with the largest increases in the employment rate
were the North East, East of England and London, all increasing by 1.3 percentage points,
followed by Yorkshire and The Humber which grew by 1.1 percentage points.
Across the UK, 8.4% of people aged 16+ had no qualifications, while 15.4% had a Level 2
qualification, 3.7% had a Trade Apprenticeship and 16.8% had a level 3 qualification.
In total, 35.9% of the UK labour force held a qualification that was equivalent to a level 2 or 3.
These qualification levels form the backbone of much of the offshore wind industry (and
energy sector as a whole). An additional 38.1% held a level 4+ qualification (i.e. HNC /
Diploma or higher).
Figure 22: Highest qualification held by resident population (16+)
Level Level Trade Level Below Other No
Region 4+ 3 App’ships 2 Level 2 qual qual
North East 31.1% 18.3% 5.0% 17.8% 10.6% 6.8% 10.5%
North West 34.2% 17.5% 4.6% 17.2% 11.2% 6.2% 9.1%
Yorkshire & 33.0% 17.1% 3.8% 16.8% 12.7% 6.8% 9.8%
Humber
East Midlands 32.4% 17.6% 4.3% 16.5% 11.9% 8.2% 9.0%
West Midlands 32.0% 18.2% 3.1% 16.9% 11.6% 8.6% 9.7%
East of 34.4% 17.5% 3.8% 17.4% 12.9% 6.1% 7.9%
England
London 50.9% 13.6% 1.4% 10.3% 7.2% 9.8% 6.9%
South East 41.5% 17.6% 3.4% 15.7% 10.5% 5.6% 5.6%
South West 38.6% 18.8% 4.2% 15.7% 11.8% 5.0% 6.0%
Northern 31.0% 15.9% 5.2% 16.4% 9.5% 4.6% 17.4%
Ireland
Scotland 42.9% 14.4% 5.3% 12.8% 8.9% 6.2% 9.6%
Wales 34.5% 17.7% 3.8% 16.6% 11.0% 6.1% 10.2%
UK 38.1% 16.8% 3.7% 15.4% 10.7% 6.9% 8.4%
Source: Quarterly Labour Force Survey, October-December 2017, ONS.
The regions with a high potential for growth in the offshore wind industry – East of England,
North East and Yorkshire & Humber – all have a high proportion of Level 2, Trade
Apprenticeships and Level 3 qualifications, although a lower than average proportion of Level
4+ qualifications.
In Scotland, another area with high offshore wind potential, the reverse situation exists – with
a lower than average proportion of Level 2-3 qualifications and a higher than average
proportion of Level 4+ qualifications.
The availability of higher-level talent in regions of

offshore growth could be an issue
While it is not possible to assess in which subjects these qualifications are held, it does
appear that the resident population in key offshore regions have strong levels of vocational /
technical-level skills, which are crucial to many aspects of the offshore wind industry and
wider energy sector.
However, it may also be the case that the three English regions with high offshore wind
potential suffer from a lack of higher-level qualifications in the resident population. This may
potentially limit the extent to which that local workforce can provide the higher-level skills
required for the continued development of the offshore wind industry.
6.2.2 Apprenticeships
The take-up of power industry Apprenticeships (Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland) has

varied a lot over the last six years – although generally on an upward trajectory.
However, over the past year, since the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, the number
of Apprenticeship starts has decreased slightly. This is largely due to many employers still
getting to grips with the implications of the levy on their talent strategies and is expected to
be a short-term situation.
The longer-term impact of the levy on employers’ talent strategies is, of course, yet to be
seen. Employers interviewed as part of this study varied in their opinions as to whether the
levy made / will make any real difference to their Apprenticeship numbers (they take on as
many as they need already) – with some treating it as a tax.
There were also signs that some employers were making attempts to maximise their use of
the levy by using it to upskill existing employees.
Figure 23 below reports the number of starts on appropriate engineering-related

Apprenticeship frameworks and standards over the last six years.
Figure 23: Number of starts on relevant Apprenticeship frameworks and standards – 2011 / 12 to 2016 / 17 (England only)
Apprenticeship 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17
Framework - Electrotechnical 4,980 5,080 4,610 5,740 5,870 4,580
Framework - Engineering Construction 480 460 490 460 410 240
Framework - Engineering Environmental Technologies 0 0 10 0 0 0
Framework - Engineering Technology 120 210 260 290 340 380
Framework - Power Industry 200 370 270 110 70 20
Standard - Control / Technical Support Engineer 0 0 0 0 0 10
Standard - Electrical / Electronic Technical Support Engineer 0 0 0 0 0 80
Standard - Engineering Technician 0 0 0 0 0 560
Standard - Maintenance and Operations Engineering
Technician 0 0 0 0 0 30
(including Wind Turbine Technician)
Standard - Network Engineer 0 0 0 50 200 350
Standard - Power Network Craftsperson 0 0 0 20 410 200
Standard - Utilities Engineering Technician 0 0 0 0 50 60
Total 5,780 6,120 5,640 6,670 7,350 6,510
Source: Department for Education, FE data library: Apprenticeships, accessed from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.
The Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician Apprenticeship Standard was only
introduced in 2016/17 and, clearly, is still to make an impact. Given the likely employment
demand for turbine technicians over the coming years, take-up of this Standard should be
monitored closely.
Overall, there are approximately 62 separate Apprenticeship frameworks/ standards which

are potentially relevant to the offshore wind industry – these are listed in full in Annex 4.
Clearly, there is potential for employers to make more use of all the available
Apprenticeships frameworks and standards. In addition to those listed above in Figure 23
above, there are Apprenticeship frameworks and standards in civil engineering, engineering
manufacture and construction, logistics, management/ team leader, maritime, marine,
warehousing and supply chain management – and as these are available from Level 2 up to
Level 7, there is clear potential to utilise the levy for upskilling across much of the workforce.
How the offshore wind industry interacts and engages with the Apprenticeship landscape is
worthy of further investigation – not least in the following areas:
• How well is the full range of Apprenticeship frameworks and standards promoted
and understood by employers across the industry’s supply chain?
o Not just in wind power, engineering, etc., but also in logistics, steel fixers,
vessels, supply chain management, etc.
• The Apprenticeship landscape is shifting away from “frameworks” and towards
“standards”. Frameworks which are in use and valued by employers are being
transitioned into Standards – those that are not will, at some point in the not-too-
distant future, be terminated.
• Whether the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Policy could be better promoted and
utilised to maximum effect for the industry and its supply chain
• The availability of training provision where it is required most. For example, there
are no providers of Wind Turbine Apprenticeship training in the East Anglia area
and there are no training providers within 50 miles of Hull for 23 of the 62
identified Apprenticeship frameworks / standards
o It appears that an important factor here is the perceived / actual lack of
demand for such Apprenticeship training from industry, resulting in
providers being unwilling / unable to develop such provision.
• Trainees being unable to gain the required on-the-job experience when access to
offshore sites (i) cannot being gained while under 18 years of age and (ii) can be
costly given that “down-time” of a site can be very expensive and, therefore, is
kept to a minimum (meaning that training on-site can be a significant hidden
cost).
• The administrative, coaching, mentoring and pastoral burden on small teams
while offshore can be prohibitive.
6.2.3 Higher Education
9,185 Honours Degrees65 were awarded from UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)66 in
subjects relevant to the offshore wind industry in 2015/16 (Annex 2 contains a full listing of
the individual subjects than are contained within the broad headings used in Figure 24
below). This is an increase of 625 over 2011/12 achievement levels.
3,230 of these were in Mechanical Engineering, 2,060 in Civil Engineering and 1,930 were in
Electronic & Electrical Engineering. 1,030 Degrees were achieved in Environmental
Sciences.
Figure 24: Number of offshore wind-related Honours degrees achieved – 2011/12 to 2015/16
Broad subject area 2011/12 2015/16 Variance
Civil 2,290 2,060 -230
Design 80 80 0
Electronic & electrical 1,925 1,930 +5
Environmental sciences 1,170 1,030 -140
Marine 255 265 +10
Mechanical 2,230 3,230 +1,000
Naval 35 35 0
Production/ manufacturing engineering 475 480 +5
Structural 95 65 -30
Total 8,560 9,185 +625
Entering employment in energy sector 210 125 -85
Source: HESA Destinations of Leavers Survey and Student Record, 2011/12 and 2015/16
Note: The totals may not equal the sum of the subjects due to rounding.
Although the overall number of relevant degrees achieved increased in the period between
2011 / 12 and 2015 / 16, there were substantial differences by subject area – the number of
Mechanical Engineering degrees increased by 1,000, while achievements in all other broad
subject areas either remained stable or decreased.
Growth in mechanical engineering graduates has not

been matched in other required disciplines
Figure 25 shows the break-down of 2015 / 16 achievements by region and gender.
65 Excluding Ordinary Degrees and unclassified results.

66 HESA Destinations of Leavers Survey and Student Record 2015/16, HESA.
Figure 25: Number of Honours degrees achieved within offshore wind-related subjects by region (2015 / 16)
East
Broad subject East of North North South South West Female
area Mids Eng London East West East West Mids Y&H NI Scotland Wales UK proportion
Civil 220 15 360 135 205 145 160 130 165 75 345 100 2,060 15.0%
Design 10 0 5 0 6 0 45 5 0 10 0 0 80 19.5%
Electronic &
180 30 235 140 165 180 135 240 230 60 205 130 1,930 8.5%
Electrical
Environmental
45 75 65 25 115 200 200 10 95 40 110 40 1,030 42.4%
Sciences
Marine 0 20 0 5 * 130 0 0 10 15 20 70 265 47.9%
Mechanical 360 45 345 280 310 305 270 295 380 110 350 180 3,230 9.1%
Naval 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 0 0 0 35 0 35 13.8%
Production /
Manufacturing 125 * 10 10 20 50 55 35 45 10 90 35 480 21.0%
Engineering
Structural 0 0 * 0 * 0 0 5 30 10 20 0 65 25.3%
Total 940 185 1,020 595 830 1,010 865 730 955 325 1,175 550 9,185 16.0%
Source: HESA Destinations of Leavers Survey and Student Record, 2015 / 16
Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
* Denotes fewer than 5.
The totals may not equal the sum of the subjects due to rounding.
16% of these graduates (1,470) were females, with high representations in Marine (47.9%)
and Environmental Sciences (42.4%). Electronic & Electrical (8.5%) and Mechanical (9.1%)
contained the lowest proportion of female graduates.
Across the regions of the UK, Scotland produced the most Honours Degrees in 2015 / 16
(1,175), closely followed by London (1,020) and the South East (1,010).
In the other regions where there is a strong offshore wind presence:

• Yorkshire & Humber (955)
• East Midlands (940)
• North East (595)
• East of England (185)
The stand out figure here is the number of relevant degrees being achieved in the East of
England region. This region has the potential to contain the highest level of offshore capacity
of any region of the UK by 2032 (8.5GW; 24% of all UK capacity) and yet just 185 relevant
degrees were achieved in the region in 2015 / 16 (70 (38%) of which were in Environmental
Sciences).
Figure 26 below shows the top three institutions in terms of the number of degrees achieved
in each broad subject area in 2015 / 16. It also highlights the rank and number of degrees
achieved within the universities of Durham, Hull and Sheffield specifically.
Figure 26: Regions and institutions achieving the highest number of offshore-relevant
Honours Degrees (2015 / 16)
Broad subject Degrees in Principal Institutions ranked by degrees
area 2015 / 16 regions achieved
1st (out of 105) – Loughborough
University (355)
Scotland (1,180)
2nd – University of Strathclyde (345)
London (1,020)
Total 9,185 3rd – University of Plymouth (280)
South East
8th – University of Sheffield (210)
(1,010)
61st – University of Hull (60)
94th – University of Durham (10)
1st (out of 56) – Newcastle University
(85)
2nd – The Nottingham Trent University
London (360) (75)
Civil 2,060
Scotland (344) 3rd – Kingston University (70)
N/A – University of Durham (0)
N/A – University of Hull (0)
=1st (out of 9) – Bournemouth University
(25)
=1st – The University of Bristol (25)
Design 80 South West (46) 3rd – Queen’s University Belfast (10)
N/A – University of Sheffield (0)
1st (out of 78) – Birmingham City
West Midlands University (114)
(241) 2nd – Loughborough University (79)
Electronic &
1,930 London (235) 3rd – The University of York (71)
Electrical
Yorkshire & 36th – University of Sheffield (20)
Humber (232) 61st – University of Hull (10)
1st (out of 52) – University of Plymouth
(134)
South East (201) 2nd – The Open University (106)67
Environmental
1,030 South West (201) 3rd – The University of East Anglia (70)
sciences
North West (117) 29th – University of Durham (10)
43rd – University of Hull (5)
1st (out of 16) – The University of
Southampton (85)
2nd – Bangor University (50)
South West (130)
Marine 265 3rd – The University of Portsmouth (45)
Wales (68)
7th – University of Hull (10)
N/A – University of Sheffield (0)
Yorkshire & 1st (out of 73) – University of
Humber (382) Northumbria (145)
East Midlands 2nd – Sheffield Hallam University (130)
Mechanical 3,230
(361) 3rd – The University of Sheffield (115)
Scotland (352) 39th – University of Hull (35)
1st (out of 2) – The University of
Strathclyde (35)
Scotland (35)
Naval 35 2nd – The University of Kent (*)
South East (*)
N/A – The University of Sheffield (0)
67 Included in South West figures.
1st (out of 30) – Loughborough
University (105)
Production / East Midlands 2nd – The University of Strathclyde (80)
Manufacturing 480 (123) 3rd – University of Plymouth (25)
Engineering Scotland (90) N/A – The University of Sheffield (0)
1st (out of 8) – The University of Leeds
(25)
Yorkshire & 2nd – Heriot-Watt University (15)
Structural 65 Humber (28) 3rd – Queen’s University of Belfast (10)
Scotland (20) 5th – The University of Sheffield (5)
Note: * Denotes fewer than 5.
Of the 9,185 graduates, just 1.4% (125) were recorded as being employed in the UK energy
sector (including electricity, oil and gas production, transmission and distribution) six months
after graduation – down from 2.5% (210) in 2011 / 12.
Figure 27: Number of Honours Degree graduates that enter employment in the wider energy
sector (2015/16) 68
Broad subject area UK Employed in energy sector
Civil 2,060 5
Design 80 *
Electronic & Electrical 1,930 55
Environmental sciences 1,030 10
Marine 265 0
Mechanical 3,230 60
Naval 35 0
Production / Manufacturing Engineering 480 0
Structural 65 0
Total 9,185 125
Entering employment in energy sector 125 1.4%
Source: HESA Destinations of Leavers Survey and Student Record, 2015 1 6
Note: * Denotes fewer than 5. The totals may not equal the sum of the subjects due to rounding.
68Energy sector includes electricity, oil and gas production, transmission and distribution, both onshore
and offshore.
It is difficult to say whether this situation is caused by a lack of demand / ambition on the part
of employers (i.e. employer demand was satisfied) or because the graduates choose other
sectors on the basis of perceived improved rewards and / or working conditions / practices
(leaving employer demands unsatisfied).
6.2.4 STEM Progress from School to HE
As we have seen, there are numerous pieces of evidence which points to a dearth of talent
leading to shortages in STEM skills in the UK labour market.
Figure 28 below, we can see the progress from GCSE through to employment in the
engineering sector.
Figure 28: Key transition points for young people across various stages of education towards
engineering
Source: EngineeringUK, The State of Engineering, 2015.
There appear to be two significant transition points which affect the volume of STEM skills
entering the labour market:
1. The proportion of GCSE entrants achieving A*-C grades in two sciences and
maths (the most important thing for craft career is good GCSEs in science and
maths69) compared to the number of total GCSE entrants
69 Your career in offshore wind energy, BCG Associates / RenewableUK, 2010.
2. The proportion of students that then continue their studies / learning into A Levels
or Apprenticeships
There is evidence that more positive attitudes towards STEM careers are having an impact,
but still too few young people are deciding to continue to study the subjects that keep the
doors to engineering careers open. This limits the number who ultimately will be able to enter
highly-skilled engineering careers70.
There is much research and debate about the current value and extent of careers
information, advice and guidance in schools, with the majority of employers spoken to as part
of this research highlighting this as a critical factor in ensuring a sustainable workforce.
It is encouraging that The Department for Education has announced the forthcoming
publication of a careers strategy that will develop the government’s aims for careers
guidance to 2020, including potential legislation to require schools to ensure non-academic
routes receive “equal airtime” with academic routes in schools’ career advice.
This is a crucial step as a significant minority of 15 and 16-year-olds have experienced little
or no careers support during secondary school71 following the 2011 Education Act which
removed the statutory duty of local authorities in England to provide careers information,
advice and guidance to young people, placing that duty instead on individual schools and
colleges.
Where careers support was supplied, the Royal Academy of Engineering72 report that most
took place in schools and is delivered by specialist STEM organisations to a core audience of
11– to 14-year-olds, consisting mainly of “Talks and presentations”, followed by hands-on
and extra-curricular activities. However, they also report that it is unclear whether the efficacy
of these single-activity (“transactional”) interventions is suitable compared with longer-term,
sustained interventions in terms of increasing attainment and progression.
Promotion of the industry within schools needs an

industry-wide approach – which encapsulates the
supply chain as well as operators and OEMs
70 EngineeringUK, The State of Engineering, 2017.

71 EngineeringUK, The State of Engineering, 2017.
72 Royal Academy of Engineering: The UK STEM education landscape, May 2016
While it is recognised that many of the larger employers in the offshore wind industry do
regularly engage with education institutions and promote the opportunities available within
the industry, evidence from smaller companies within the supply chain does suggest that this
is a far more difficult task for them to achieve – not least in terms of having the resources,
time and expertise to engage properly and constructively with the audience on a regular
basis.
Furthermore, many supply chain SMEs do not have the “employer brand” to gain access to
schools in order to talk about potential career and Apprenticeship opportunities within their
organisation (especially in locations dominated by the larger offshore wind employers).
Many supply chain SMEs do not have the resources

or the “employer brand” to engage with schools
Too many pupils disengage with STEM through failure to see its relevance to their current life
and future directions and underlined “the need for improved careers guidance and employer
engagement and better articulation of the many pathways open to young people after
school.”
There is an urgent need for better coordination of employer engagement in education, so that
all pupils can benefit. Provision is full of overlaps and gaps, with many schools and
employers confused as to what opportunities are available and how best to engage.
Women Studying STEM Subjects
At GCSE level, girls represent 50% of entries across science and maths and continue to
outperform boys, with 66% of girls achieving A*-C / 9-4 grades compared to 62% of boys –
and this remains true across all STEM subjects73.
Across all GCSE STEM subjects, girls represent

50% of entries and outperform boys in exams
• In Construction, 100% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 76% of boys)

• In Additional Maths 96% of girls achieved 9-4 grades (vs. 94% of boys)
• In Physics, 91% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 90.5% of boys)
• In Statistics, 73% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 69% of boys)
73https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/resources/2017/08/analysis-of-gcse-stem-entries-and-results,
accessed on 27th March 2018.
• In Biology and Chemistry, 91% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 89% and 88%
of boys respectively).
• In Computing, 66% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 60% of boys)
• In Design & Tech, 73% of girls achieved A*-C (vs. 54% of boys)
• In Additional Science, 62% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 55% of boys)
• In Engineering, 66% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 42% of boys)
• In ICT, 72% of girls achieved A*-C grades (vs. 64% of boys)
• In Science, 51% of girls achieved A*-C (vs. 45% of boys)
• In Other Technologies, 55.6% of girls achieved A*-C (vs. 52.7%)
Despite this initial interest and exam success, there is a huge drop-off in the number of girls
studying core STEM subjects post-16, with just 35% of girls choose maths, physics,
computing or a technical vocational qualification compared to 94% of boys. Both proportions
represent an increase on the previous year – in the case of boys it is 14 percentage points
higher, while for girls it just 1 percentage point higher (largely driven by higher take-up of
technical vocational qualifications.)
This reduces the number going on to do a degree or level 4 qualification in maths, physics,
computer science or engineering – 9% of girls (up from 7% in 2016) compared to 29% of
boys. Furthermore, more than 90% of STEM Apprenticeship achievers are male74.
Progression of females through the STEM education

system is still a challenge that needs addressing
As a result, there are approximately 50,000 fewer girls than boys leaving the UK education
system with relevant qualifications to take up jobs in technology and engineering.
The reasons behind why females do not appear to progress into STEM-related careers are
complex and cannot be done justice within the context of this report. However, while there
are undoubtedly “push” factors away from STEM careers (e.g. lack of career information,
perception of it being a “male” / masculine industry, an “I can’t do it” mentality, etc.) there are
also “pull” factors towards other careers (i.e. they prefer / actively choose other sectors).
Therefore, the key to achieving a higher proportion of females in STEM sectors, including
offshore wind, will be in tackling these two issues – providing clear visibility of the career
opportunities in the sector in a way that is female-friendly.
74https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/resources/2017/11/from-classroom-to-boardroom-the-stem-
pipeline-2017, accessed on 27th March 2018.
The relative attractiveness of the power sector to both females and those from a BAME
background is an on-going issue – with the majority of the energy sector workforce being
white (94%) and male (76%)75.
Potential UK Shortfall of STEM Graduates
EngineeringUK76 has modelled the supply of entrants to engineering enterprises across the
UK economy with Level 4+ skills through higher education and higher-level Apprenticeships.
They project that there will be around 41,000 entrants of UK nationality annually, with
graduates from the EU and other nations potentially adding a further 40,000. This would give
a total supply of workers with higher level skills of just over 81,000 (this projection assumes
that similar numbers of international students will continue to study in the UK and continue to
be eligible to work in engineering in the UK post-Brexit). This leaves a projected short-fall of
around 20,000 engineering graduates per year.
The UK is short of 20,000 engineering graduates per

year
It is a similar situation across Europe. In the wind energy sector specifically, a shortfall of
7,000 qualified personnel was reported in Europe in 201377, and it was concluded that this
could rise to 15,000 by 2030 if the number of STEM graduates entering the profession
remains at the current rate.
There is also an urgent requirement to increase the supply of skills needed for the
development of artificial intelligence and robotics. There are several measures stated in the
Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal, including the introduction of T levels, which are aimed at
this specific issue.78
Overall, there are two issues that need concerted efforts to address:
1. Increasing the number of people entering STEM-related academic (and
vocational) provision, including the full range of engineering disciplines
(particularly electrical / electronic engineering)
2. Increasing the number of graduates entering employment in technical /
engineering roles within the energy sector (addressing both supply-side (i.e. the
number of available graduates) and demand-side issues (i.e. stimulating
employer demand for graduates.)
75 ONS (2016), Labour Force Survey, January-December 2016.

76 Engineering UK 2017: The state of engineering, EngineeringUK, 2017.
77 Wind Platform, Workers wanted: the EU wind energy sector skills gap, August 2013, p 12 in National
college for wind energy DEBATE PACK Number CDP-2016/0197, Debate day 1 November 2016
78 Industrial Strategy: Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal, HM Government, 2018.
6.2.5 Transferable Skills from Other Sectors
The skills required within the offshore wind sector (e.g. engineering, system design, control
systems, robotics and artificial intelligence, high-voltage working, offshore working
experience, etc.) are similar to those existing within other sectors, particularly in areas such
as onshore electricity generation, transmission and distribution, general manufacturing and
the offshore oil and gas sector.
The UK oil and gas sector has shed many jobs over the past four years – from a high of
460,000 in 2014 down to around 300,000 in 201779. Despite the recent price rise of oil,
employment continued to decline as late as the first half of 2017. This workforce includes
many high skilled roles, including subsea, geoscientists, technicians and craftspeople,
mariners, divers and transfer vessel roles. Crucially, they often combine these technical skills
with the required behavioural skills.
However, since January 2016, the price of crude oil has steadily increased from a low of $30
up to $61 in March 2018. If this trend were to continue – albeit it is still some way off the
highs of 2010 to 2014 – it could signal the end of job shedding in the sector.
As this sector is close in terms of both geography and skillset, it is worth monitoring
employment trends and how the offshore wind sector might either benefit from continued job
losses or react if employment levels begin to increase.
Also, over 14,000 ex-Military personnel leave the Armed Forces each year, many of them
being engineers and technicians having worked with some of the world’s most advanced
defence systems, with specialisms in aeronautical, avionics, electrical, mechanical, nuclear,
communications and marine engineering. They also possess excellent soft / transferable
skills that the energy sector finds desirable, including
• Communication skills practised with internal and external stakeholders
• Organisational skills
• Leadership & management skills
• High degree of professionalism
• Problem solving
• Health & Safety, Security awareness and best practice
• Team working
• Offshore-relevant behavioural skills
79 Workforce Report 2017, Oil & Gas UK, 2017.
Overall, it is likely that the main entry routes into the industry are, and will continue to be:
I. Movers from other, technically-related, industries (including ex-forces and those
from other aspects of the wider energy sector – both onshore and offshore)
II. Apprenticeships and graduates (providing a “base load” of new talent for the next
generation)
III. Movers with cross-sector skills (e.g. business / commercial, IT and data analytics,
drone / ROV operators, etc.)
6.3 Barriers to Talent Acquisition

The industry has the following barriers when it comes to skills development:
• Uncertainty and lack of long-term visibility of projects
o This is a major inhibitor of workforce planning and in engaging with longer-
term skills development. The industry is often characterised by short
procurement lead-in times (often 2-3 months) which make it especially
difficult for the supply chain to predict, recruit and develop its workforce.
o It is recognised that proactive recruitment, training and up-skilling is a very
difficult “chicken and egg” balancing act in a developing industry:
▪ Employers are reluctant to commit to recruitment and longer-term
training initiatives (e.g. Apprenticeships) until they have certainty of
need
▪ Student take-up of relevant qualifications may not occur fully until
they see employer demand / career opportunities
▪ Education institutions may be reluctant to on appropriate provision
until they see student / employer demand
▪ When employers do identify a need for labour, they generally need it
within a short timeframe
▪ This limits long-term skills investment (although there is some
evidence of individual owner / operators deliberately investing in skills
(e.g. through Apprenticeships) on a larger scale than they need in
order to “feed the supply chain”.
• Apprenticeships
o The availability of local, relevant Apprenticeship training can be limited
where there is an actual or perceived lack of industry demand for such
provision (e.g. wind turbine Apprenticeship training in East Anglia).
o It can be very difficult for Apprentices to gain the necessary on-the-job
experience given that access time to offshore assets is extremely limited.
As down-time of a turbine can be very expensive, companies are unwilling
to undertake training and development activities during site visits.
• Diversity and inclusion
o Poor sector attractiveness and ability of employers to recruit from non-
traditional aspects of the community (i.e. females and BAMEs)
o A lack of females looking to progress with their STEM studies and,
ultimately, seek employment in the offshore wind industry
• While there is rapid technological advancement, it is counterbalanced by a lack of
standardisation in materials, manufacturing processes and technical standards,
which is being driven by a lack of co-ordination across different areas of OSW.
o As a result, there is a common view across the industry that turbine training
is controlled by the OEMs, that it is generally expensive and availability
very limited.
o Therefore, there is a strong need for common industry-wide technical and
operational standards, facilitating workforce mobility across technology
platforms and, therefore, reducing (re)training costs and easing workforce
mobility.
o This is affecting supply chains, reducing capacity optimisation and attempts
to drive down costs across the OSW lifecycle.
• Existing training and education programmes can provide some of the expertise
needed for future industry growth, but they do not currently meet the overall role,
talent and expertise requirements of the industry now and over the next 15-20
years.
o The UK’s lack of a national strategy for skills means that education
provision remains fragmented and un-coordinated save for some regional
activities and individual employer-skills provider links.
o There is a clear need for co-ordinated action on skills provision for the
offshore energy industry. As part of the UK’s industrial strategy, the
offshore wind industry offers an opportunity to align national skills
development requirements with local skills development expertise80.
Furthermore, the same challenges often apply equally to other aspects of the UK energy and
wider infrastructure sectors. The National Infrastructure Plan for Skills 81 highlights the main
skills challenges:
80 Offshore Renewable Energy Science and Innovation Audit. A Science and Innovation Audit Report
sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Undated.
81 National Infrastructure Plan for Skills, HM Treasury, September 2015.
Challenge Energy and utility sector specific challenges
• Sectors need to work together to develop cross-sector
Providing leadership
strategies and approaches for workforce development.
and coordination
• There is a lack of regional planning resulting in the lack of a
coherent, long-term picture of demand.
• A key challenge is the changing profile and nature of roles.
Improving data on • The regions with key projects include the North, South West
supply and demand and East of England – with specific workforce demands.
• There are specific skills gaps relating to nuclear, renewable
and smart meter infrastructure targets.
• There is a need for greater mobility of employees within the
Improving mobility
energy, utilities and construction sector. The development of
and up-skilling the
common industry standards and accreditation is one of the
existing workforce
recommendations to encourage this.
Encouraging young • There is a shortage of students undertaking STEM subjects
people and greater and the relative low attractiveness of the energy sector for
diversity those who are studying STEM subjects.
6.4 Conclusions
The UK has a long history of creating a world class offshore workforce – from R&D through
to operations and maintenance. This tradition continues with the UK leading the way in
offshore wind deployment.
Many of the skillsets needed for offshore electricity generation and transmission are similar
to those already being demanded across the wider energy sector – both onshore and in the
oil and gas fields (where, it should be noted, workforce reductions have slowed). Also, in
addition to the critical technical roles required, business, commercial, stakeholder / supply
chain management and advanced first aid and rescue skills are also central to a successful
future.
However, direct feedback from employers for this study suggests that attracting new talent
isn’t a major problem at the moment. Certainly, many of the owner / operators and larger
OEMs appear to have few difficulties in filling vacancies, be they for Apprentices or
experienced hires.
Recruiting skilled talent does not appear to be a major

challenge for larger employers at the moment – but
challenges do exist for some supply chain SMEs
Whether this situation still applies into the supply chain (e.g. at tier 2 level) is something that
warrants further investigation. It does appear to be the case that while the “employer brand”
of the owner / operators and OEMs is strong enough to attract talent from both within and
from outside of the sector, this may not be the case with the smaller supply chain companies.
The skills that are crucial to the success of the industry moving forward, and in maintaining
the UK’s status as a leader of offshore wind development and deployment, include:
• Asset management
• Project management
• Leadership
• Engineers and technical skills – mechanical, electrical and control &
instrumentation, blade and turbine technicians
o Increasingly, many of these roles now require elements of IT / network
system skills, as areas such as fault findings and systems / performance
monitoring are done through electronic, rather than mechanical, means
• Scientists – marine biology, geophysics, hydrography, oceanography
• Advanced first aid and rescue
• Offshore skills – confined spaces, working at heights, team working, team living,
etc.
Discussions with employers also highlighted the need for modular upskilling provision in:
• Leadership – developing the leaders of tomorrow
• Updating and refreshing knowledge and understanding of safety rules and
regulations
• Advanced first aid and rescue – ability to train / refresh onshore in as realistic
conditions / assets as possible. This provision should be similar in content and
learning to that seen for mountain rescue-type situations and injuries
Furthermore, the offshore wind industry will continue to develop tomorrow’s innovators82,
particularly in areas such as vessels and logistics, subsea cables and transmission,
foundations, turbines, artificial intelligence, robotics and data analytics.
Gaining the required skills could prove increasingly difficult as economic activity in the
industry ramps up over the coming years and labour demands increase – the labour market
is already at its tightest for 40 years and significant additional investment in infrastructure
construction is planned for next few years.
The supply of skills that the industry can call upon is mixed. The regions along the east of the
UK, where the majority of offshore wind growth is expected to occur, appear to be relatively
strong in terms of level 2 and 3 qualifications (the feedstock of Apprentices and technicians).
However, there are issues reported by employers which relate to Apprenticeships including:
• The availability of training provision where it is required most
kept to a minimum (meaning that training on-site can be a significant hidden cost)
The availability of locally-sourced higher-level skills may be an issue given the number of
graduates leaving universities with relevant degrees. In 2015 / 16 there were 9,185 UK
graduates with relevant degrees to the offshore wind industry. Universities in the East
Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber produced 1,900 graduates from relevant disciplines in
2015 / 16 (740 of them in mechanical engineering). However, universities in the North East
(595) and East Midlands (185) were not so successful.
The progress of STEM learners through the education system continues to be an issue for
the UK economy. While interest in STEM subjects is strong at GCSE level, for both males
and females, this interest declines going into A levels and, further, into higher education.
Finally, in terms of gaining employment in the energy sector, just 125 of the 9,185 graduates
in 2015 / 16 with relevant degrees entered employment in the sector.
This is a particular issue for females, despite girls representing 50% of GCSE entrants in
STEM subjects and out-performing boys in terms of achievement, just 16% of graduates with
offshore wind-relevant degrees in 2015 / 16 were female.
Therefore, as the population of the UK grows and changes in composition – with white males
becoming a smaller proportion of the population – the offshore wind industry (as well as the
wider energy, infrastructure and engineering sectors) needs to consider how it can make the
most of the talent available to them, including females and those from a BAME background.
Action on these points is required to help the industry deliver on its potential and keeping the
UK at the forefront of the global industry. Solutions should seek to:
• Maximise the extent to which the local communities can benefit from the success
of the industry
• Engage with the whole supply chain – ensuring that access to talent, training
provision and the promotion of skills development as a principle is embedded
throughout the entire industry
To meet the needs of the whole sector, talent

attraction and skills development needs to engage
with all communities
This is a dynamic, fast-paced and growing industry and, coupled with its green credentials,
can provide a wide range of career opportunities to both new entrants and experienced
workers. The challenge will be in promoting these opportunities to all sections of the
community in a way that benefits the whole supply chain.
7. The Energy Estuary
Headlines
• The Humber region is one of six designated Centres for Offshore Renewable
Engineering (COREs) in England
• A new Industrial Strategy for the Humber and Offshore Wind Sector Deal will
strengthen the region’s position as the UK’s leading offshore centre
• Offshore wind generating capacity could reach 7.7GW by 2032, consisting
of more than 1,000 extra turbines and employing more than 9,200 people
• Just 4% of the region’s current energy sector workforce are from a black or
minority ethnic background – compared to 8.5% of the region’s total
workforce
• Competition for skilled people is expected to remain strong, with more than
£14bn being invested in the region’s energy and infrastructure sector, which
could demand more than 100,000 in total
• Although the region’s labour market is tight, few of the industry’s larger
employers (e.g. operators and OEMs) report difficulties in recruiting talent –
the situation along the supply chain is less certain
• Fewer than 1,900 graduates emerged from the region’s universities in
2015/16 with relevant degrees – just 32 of these entered employment in the
energy sector
• Of the 62 Apprenticeship frameworks / standards that are potentially of
relevance to the offshore wind industry, there are no training providers within
50 miles of Hull for 23 of them
• As a result of this significant economic activity, there are already a number
of initiatives and collaborations in place to support the development of the
industry, including an O&M Centre of Excellence, Green Port Hull, Humber
LEP and Team Humber Marine Alliance – most of these also have their own
skills-related group or network existing.
7.1 Introduction
This chapter considers the current and future potential of offshore wind in and around “The
Energy Estuary”.
Already designated a Centre for Offshore Renewable Engineering (one of six COREs in
England83), these are exciting times along the Humber estuary, which is leading the UK
renewables sector with a collective of over £300million being invested through Siemens, ABP
and the development of Greenport Hull. With investments in wind, tidal, biofuels and
renewable energy, the region is building on its credentials in chemicals, offshore and marine
engineering and exploring opportunities to capitalise on the global demand for sustainable
energy84.
Associated with this activity, there are several initiatives and collaborations which are
designed specifically to maximise this potential economic growth. For example, a five-year,
£2million collaboration between ORE Catapult and the University of Hull has seen the
creation of an Operations & Maintenance Centre of Excellence85 and a new Industrial
Strategy for the Humber is being commissioned by Humber LEP86 which will map out how
the region will build on its position as the centre of the UK’s offshore wind industry.
The Energy Estuary is at the forefront of the UK’s

offshore wind revolution
As “the Energy Estuary” is not a geographic area that is commonly used by the providers of
statistics used throughout this report, there is no specific data we can use. However, as a
proxy for this, we have combined the data relating to the Yorkshire & Humber region with that
of the East Midlands. This consolidated area is referred to as “the Region” throughout the
remainder of this section.
This presents a more realistic picture of the amount of economic activity that is / will be in,
taking place in and around the Humber Estuary to support the offshore wind industry
activities along much of the eastern coast of the UK.
83
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/405
959/CoreBrochure_2015.pdf, accessed on 17th May 2018.
84 https://thehumber.com/invest/growth-sectors, accessed on 18th May 2018.
85https://ore.catapult.org.uk/operation-performance/strategic-programmes/omce/, accessed on 18th
May 2018.
86 http://www.humberlep.org/lep-to-lead-development-of-new-plan-for-next-phase-of-the-energy-
estuary/, accessed 18th May 2018.
7.2 Current and Future Project Pipeline
The Region currently accounts for 893MW (14%) of the UK’s offshore wind capacity of
6.6GW. However, it has the potential to accommodate 7.7GW (22.1%) of the UK total
capacity by 2032. Only the East of England region has greater potential, at 8.5GW (24.1%).
Figure 29: Potential offshore capacity (MW) by 2032 in Yorkshire & Humber / East Midlands
and UK by project phase
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate based on RenewableUK Wind Energy Database, www.4COffshore.com,
TEC register and company websites.
In total, an additional 1,037 new turbines could be installed in the Region’s waters over the
next 15 years, resulting in 1,274 turbines in total (accounting for nearly 1-in-4 of the total
number of turbines in UK waters) and making it the UK’s leading region in terms of the
number of operational turbines.
Figure 30: Potential number of offshore turbines by 2032 in the Yorkshire & Humber / East
Midlands and UK by project phase
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate based on RenewableUK Wind Energy Database, www.4COffshore.com,
TEC register and company websites.
Overall, the peak year of construction new UK wind farms is predicted to be 2024, when
9.5GW could be being built. Also, in 2019, 8.6GW will be in construction.
However, the anticipated timing of construction of projects in the Region suggests that only
two will be in construction at the same time – Ørsted’s Hornsea One and Innogy’s Triton
Knoll.
The projected substantial potential increase in offshore wind activity in the Region could
result in serious competition for skilled labour. However, on a positive note, it may have the
advantage of becoming a magnet for skills as businesses become established and demand
for labour increases.
7.3 Predicted Employment Demand
It is estimated that employment related to the offshore wind industry in the Region could
increase from around 1,500 in 2017 to around 9,200 by 2032 if all the projects in the current
pipeline become operational. Across the UK, employment could rise from 10,000 to 36,000.
Figure 31: Offshore wind employment estimates for Yorkshire & Humber / East Midlands and
UK
2017-2032
2017 2022 2027 2032
Variance
Yorkshire & Humber / East 1,500 3,400 6,000 9,200 +7,700
Midlands
UK 10,000 18,500 27,400 36,000 +26,000
Source: Energy & Utility Skills’ estimate using Cambridge Econometrics 2017 employment projections as a basis.
Along the north-eastern seaboard of the UK (including East of England, East Midlands,
Yorkshire & Humber, North East and Scotland), employment is set to grow from around
3,700 in 2017 to nearly 21,000.
This obviously reflects where the majority of the economic activity will occur. Overall, this
growth in employment mirrors much more closely the growth in the number of turbines
becoming operational than it does growth in MW output (as turbine output is anticipated to
increase quite substantially over the coming decade).
Employment growth in the region is expected to be concentrated mainly in Construction &

installation and Operation & maintenance, with some growth occurring in both Planning &
development and Manufacturing & design.
Figure 32: Offshore wind employment growth estimates for Yorkshire & Humber / East
Midlands by project stage
The majority of employment growth will require technical- and professional-level skills, along
with a large number of managerial staff.
Figure 33: Offshore wind employment growth estimates for Yorkshire & Humber / East
Midlands by broad skill level
There are both internal and external factors that could affect the accuracy of these
employment estimates, particularly:
• Project slippage
• Government policy
• O&M manpower strategies – the extent to which owner / operators deliver O&M
activities in-house or contract out
• Use of offshore logistics and accommodation
• Speed and impact of industry maturity and consolidation
• Technological innovation and developments
7.4 Wider Competition for Skills

At the same time that economic activity and employment in the region’s offshore wind
industry is set to increase, there are other infrastructure construction projects planned in the
Region.
In total, £14.3billion of investment is planned specifically for the Yorkshire & Humber / East
Midlands region between 2017 / 18 and 2020 / 21 - £12.9billion of this is planned in just three
sectors: Energy (£8.0bn (including £6.87bn for Hornsea One and Two and Triton Knoll));
Transport (£2.2bn) and Utilities (£2.8bn) (it is also possible that other nationwide investments
will impact on the region, although it is difficult to estimate the extent the which this may
occur).
The table below shows estimates of employment in the Region’s energy and infrastructure
sectors through to 2024.
Within the electricity and gas sector, there is minimal additional employment forecast for the
Region’s onshore wind industry, with total capacity forecast to grow by just 144MW over the
coming years to a total of 1.2GW.
Total labour demand across the region is shown in

Figure 34 below (though much of the data falls below the recommended threshold for
publication).
Figure 34: Forecast employment demand in the Yorkshire & Humber / East Midlands energy
and infrastructure sectors (by sector) 2017-2024
% of 2017 Relevant occupational
Total labour demand
workforce growth
30,000 Skilled trades
100,000 10,000 Managers
Energy & infrastructure
20,000 new jobs 24.7% 10,000 Operatives 10,000
sectors 80,000 retirements Engineers
<10,000 Technicians
140,000 Managers
1,150,000 80,000 Operatives 50,000
All Sectors 90,000 new jobs 23.6% Engineers
1,060,000 retirements 50,000 Skilled trades
20,000 Technicians
Source: Working Futures 2014-2024, UKCES, 2016.
Note – Data is rounded to the nearest 10,000.
* includes power generation and onshore transmission and distribution
** includes onshore and offshore extraction only
Within the Region’s energy and infrastructure sectors, an estimated 100,000 people will be
required by 2024 – equivalent to replacing 24.7% of the current workforce. Furthermore,
more than two-thirds (68.5%) of people recruited over this period will be in operative, skilled,
technician, engineering and managerial roles.
By comparison, across the whole of the Region’s economy, some 1.15million people will
required, with just 29.1% entering jobs in the same broad occupational groups.
7.5 Implications for Skills Demand
The implications for the demand for skills in the future are discussed in detail in chapter 6
and can be summarised as:
Figure 35: Skill areas identified as being important to the future success of the offshore wind industry
• Specifically, environmental asset management
Asset management
• Compliance and engineering
Project management • Ability to handle contracts worth £100millions+
• The ability to manage and organise teams
Leadership • Developing the leaders of the future from the technical
workforce (i.e. upskilling)
• Across a range of relevant disciplines, including
mechanical, electrical and control & instrumentation
and high voltage
Engineers • Including IT and associated network skills, enabling
fault-finding through electronic means (e.g. assessing
data on a laptop) rather than the more traditional,
hands-on, mechanic approach.
• Environmental and physical sciences – e.g. marine
Scientists biology, geophysics, physics, environmental
monitoring, oceanography.
• Particularly relating to blade and turbine maintenance
(this issue is not helped by a lack of common standards
Technicians
across technology manufacturers)
• High voltage technicians
• Advanced first aid and rescue - The types of injuries
that can occur, and the required first aid response, can
often be similar to those seen in mountain rescue-type
Health & safety
situations.
• Safety rules and regulations – regularly updated /
refreshed
Soft skills • Team working; team living, problem solving, etc.
Source: Employer interviews as part of this skills study
There is no evidence, or reason to assume, that the skills demands within The Energy
Estuary or wider region will vary from this analysis.
7.6 Implications for Skills Supply
In terms of the supply of available skills, the Region’s labour market remains tight in terms of
high level of employment and relatively low levels of unemployment. Unemployment in
Yorkshire & Humber stands 4.1% (slightly below the UK average of 4.3%), while in the East
Midlands it is at 5.0% (slightly above the UK average). The Region has experienced
relatively high levels of employment growth over the past year.
Figure 36: Unemployment rate for people aged 16+ by region of the UK
Region Unemployment rate
East Midlands 5.0%
Yorkshire & Humber 4.1%
UK 4.3%
Source: Quarterly Labour Force Survey, November 2017-January 2018, ONS.
The Yorkshire & Humber and East Midlands regions have a high proportion of the resident
workforce with Level 2, Trade Apprenticeships and Level 3 qualifications, although a lower
than average proportion of Level 4+ qualifications.
Figure 37: Highest qualification held by resident population (16+)

Trade Below Other No
Region Level 4+ Level 3 App’ships Level 2 Level 2 qual qual
East
32.4% 17.6% 4.3% 16.5% 11.9% 8.2% 9.0%
Midlands
Yorkshire &
33.0% 17.1% 3.8% 16.8% 12.7% 6.8% 9.8%
Humber
UK 38.1% 16.8% 3.7% 15.4% 10.7% 6.9% 8.4%
Source: Quarterly Labour Force Survey, October-December 2017, ONS.
While it is not possible to assess in which subjects these qualifications are held, it does
appear that the resident population in Yorkshire & Humber and East Midlands regions have
potentially strong levels of vocational / technical-level skills, which are crucial to many
aspects of the offshore wind industry.
However, it may also be the case that the regions suffer from a lack of higher-level
qualifications in the resident population, which may potentially limit the extent to which the
local workforces can provide the higher-level skills required for the continued development of
the offshore wind industry.
In 2015 / 16, 1,895 degrees were achieved in the Region that are relevant to the offshore
wind industry (see Annex 2 for a list of these degree subjects). Of these, just 32 entered
employment in the energy sector.
The number of relevant degrees achieved in higher education institutions in the Yorkshire &
Humber and across the UK are shown below.
Figure 38: Number of Honours degrees achieved within offshore wind-related subjects by
region (2015 / 16)
Y&H / EM Female proportion
Broad subject area Region UK Y&H / EM UK
Civil 385 2,060 16.4% 15.0%
Design 0 80 -- 19.5%
Electronic & electrical 420 1,930 6.0% 8.5%
Environmental sciences 140 1,030 41.2% 42.4%
Marine 10 265 66.7% 47.9%
Mechanical 740 3,230 8.6% 9.1%
Naval 0 35 -- 13.8%
Production / manufacturing engineering 170 480 26.9% 21.0%
Structural 30 65 33.0% 25.3%
Total 1,895 9,185 14.3% 16.0%
Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
* Denotes fewer than 5.
The totals may not equal the sum of the subjects due to rounding.
Relative to other regions of the UK with high potential for offshore wind growth, this is a high
figure – Scotland (1,180), North East (595) and East of England (185).
The University of Loughborough produced 355 of the 1,895 degrees, with University of
Nottingham (235) and Sheffield Hallam University (220) also providing high numbers.
More work needs to be done to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce across the
Region’s energy workforce:
o Females make-up just 22% of the energy sector workforce (predominantly in non-
technical roles such as customer service and admin / secretarial)
o Females accounted for just 14.3% of graduates in 2015 / 16 – slightly less
than the UK proportion of females (16.0%) and that BAMEs accounted for
25.4%
o Just 4% of the Yorkshire & Humber region’s energy workforce (5.2% in the East
Midlands) are from a BAME background (compared to 8.5% and 8.0%
respectively of the available workforce)87
o Employers need to be mindful of the specific local / regional circumstances
when determining how representative their workforce is, or should be
87 Annual Population Survey, April 2015 to March 2016. ONS.
Continued efforts to attract more females and
BAMEs into the sector should be a priority
A key aspect of creating a more attractive sector proposition, including a more diverse
workforce, is how the sector engages with its future talent pool. While it is recognised that
many of the larger employers in the Humber area regular engage with education institutions
and promote the opportunities available within the industry, evidence from smaller
companies within the supply chain suggests that this is a far more difficult task for them to
achieve – not least in terms of having the resources, time and expertise to engage properly
and constructively with the audience on a regular basis. Furthermore, many supply chain
SMEs do not have the “employer brand” to gain access to schools in order to talk about
potential career and Apprenticeship opportunities within their organisation (especially in
locations dominated by the larger offshore wind employers).
Therefore, making the most of the available workforce will (i) become increasingly important
and (ii) require a sector-wide approach.
7.6.1 Apprenticeship Training Provision in the Region
Overall, 62 separate Apprenticeship frameworks / standards have been identified as being

relevant to the offshore wind industry:
• 13 at Level 2
• 29 at Level 3
• 9 at Level 4
• 2 at Level 5
• 7 at Level 6
• 2 at Level 7
However, there are no training providers for 23 of these within 50 miles of Hull.
The following tables list each framework / standard by level and the associated training
providers (where available). This list is taken from the Skills Funding Agency’s website88. All
training providers listed are within 50 miles of Hull (HU1 1AA).
88 https://findapprenticeshiptraining.sfa.bis.gov.uk/, accessed on 9th May 2018.
There are potentially 62 Apprenticeship frameworks/
standards relevant to the industry – though 23 of
them have no current training provider
Figure 39: Offshore wind-related Apprenticeship training providers in and around the Energy Estuary
Level 2
Apprenticeship Name of training provider

There are no training providers listed for this
Construction Civil Engineering: Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Steelfixing I.V.S. Training and Assessment Ltd is the closest (78
miles away).
Construction Civil Engineering:
Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Steelfixing Occupations Major
Bridgwater and Taunton College is the closest (213
Projects
miles away).
Construction Steel Fixer Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Heyrod Construction is the closest (76 miles away).
Engineering Manufacture: East Riding College
Engineering Maintenance and Babcock Training
Installation Tagadvance
Hull College
East Riding College
Engineering Manufacture: Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
Fabrication and Welding North Lindsey College
Wakefield College
RNN Group
Engineering Manufacture: Babcock Training
Marine (Ship, Yacht,
Boatbuilding, Maintenance and
Repair)
Fleetmaster Training Ltd
Intec Business Colleges
Logistics Operations: Logistics
DeeKay Technical Recruitment
Operative
Vision West Nottingham College
The Intraining Group
Logistics Operations: Logistics DeeKay Technical Recruitment
Support Operative Qube Learning
There are numerous training providers available for
Management: Team Leading
this Apprenticeship in the region.
Maritime Occupations: Able Hull Training and Adult Education
Seafarer / tug rating - engine
room
Maritime Occupations: Port JC Ready4Work
Operations Rathbone
Maritime Occupations: Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Workboat Operation Park Education & Training is the closest (114 miles
away).
Hull College
Supply Chain Management:
Supply Chain Operations
Level 3

Civil Engineering Technician
Salford and Trafford Engineering Group Training
Association is the closest (83 miles away).
Babcock Training
Engineering Construction:
Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
Electrical Installation
Wakefield College
Engineering Construction: Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
Electrical Maintenance
Instrument and Control
Mechanical Fitting Wakefield College
Mechanical Maintenance Wakefield College
Engineering Construction: Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Project Control Stockport Engineering Training Association is the
closest (78 miles away).
Engineering Construction: North Lindsey College
Steel Erecting
Hull College
Hull Training and Adult Education
Humberside Engineering Training Association
Engineering Manufacture:
East Riding College
Electrical and Electronic
Babcock Training
Engineering
Selby College
York College
JTL
Hull College
East Riding College
Engineering Manufacture:
Babcock Training
Engineering Maintenance
Selby College
Doncaster College
Lincoln College
University of Sheffield
Engineering Manufacture: Hull Training and Adult Education
Engineering Leadership
Engineering Manufacture: Selby College
Installation and Doncaster College
Commissioning University of Sheffield
Engineering Manufacture: Babcock Training
Marine (Ship Building,
Maintenance and Repair)
Derwent Training Association
Engineering Technician
York College
University of Sheffield
Construction Technical and There are no training providers listed for this
Professional: Geomatics Data Apprenticeship in the UK.
Analysis
Hull College
Intec Business Colleges
Logistics Operations: Logistics
Operations Team Leader /
Section Supervisor
North Lancs Training Group
Lincoln College
Hull College
Maintenance and Operations
North Lindsey College
York College
Marine Engineer
Apprenticeship in the UK.
Maritime Occupations: Officer There are no training providers listed for this
of the watch on merchant Apprenticeship in the UK.
vessels of less than 500 gross
tonnage - near coastal
Maritime Occupations: Officer There are no training providers listed for this
of the watch on merchant Apprenticeship in the UK.
vessels of less than 3,000
gross tonnage - near coastal
Maritime Occupations: There are no training providers listed for this
Merchant Navy (Deck) Apprenticeship in the UK.
Maritime Occupations: There are no training providers listed for this
Merchant Navy (Engineering) Apprenticeship in the UK.
Power network craftsperson
Utility & Construction Training Ltd (87 miles away) is
the closest.
Project Controls Technician T3 Training & Development (Barnsley)
Supply Chain Management
Hull College
Surveying technician
University College of Estate Management (Reading)
(160 miles away) is the closest.
Team leader / supervisor
Trainspeople Ltd
Utilities engineering technician
Develop Training Ltd
Ensis Solutions
Hull College
Warehousing and Storage: Intec Business Colleges
Senior Warehouse Person / DeeKay Technical Recruitment
Team Leader Vision West Nottingham College
North Lancs Training Group
Lincoln College
Level 4

Associate project manager
Electrical Power Networks There are no training providers listed for this
Engineer Apprenticeship in the UK.
Electrical power protection
and plant commissioning
Warwickshire College (113 miles away) is the only
engineer
listed nationally.
Manufacturing Engineering: Wakefield College
Electrical / Electronics
Manufacturing Engineering: East Riding College
Maintenance
Manufacturing Engineering: Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Marine Sheffield Hallam University (53 miles away) is the only
listed nationally.
Manufacturing Engineering: East Riding College
Mechanical University of Sheffield
Manufacturing Engineering: There are no training providers listed for this
Wind Generation Apprenticeship in the UK.
GK Apprenticeships
Project Management
Acorn Learning Solutions
Level 5

Supply Chain Management: DeeKay Technical Recruitment
Supply Chain Specialist
Supply Chain Management: There are no training providers listed for this
International Supply Chain Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Manager Port of Tilbury London (113 miles away) is the closest.
Level 6

Hull College
University of Hull
Encompass Consultancy
ioda Ltd
Chartered manager degree
North Lindsey College
apprenticeship
York St John University
Lincoln College
Coventry College (Scarborough)
University of Lincoln
Rathbone
Chartered surveyor
Leeds Beckett University
Civil Engineer Leeds Beckett University
Construction Management: Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Construction Site Management Nottingham Trent University (64 miles away) is the
only listed nationally.
Construction Management: There are no training providers listed for this
Management Quantity Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
Surveying and Commercial Middlesex University (149 miles away) is the only
Management listed nationally.
Control / technical support University of Sheffield
engineer
Electrical / electronic technical Apprenticeship within 50 miles of Hull.
support engineer Sheffield Hallam University (53 miles away) is the only
listed nationally.
Level 7

Power Engineer
London South Bank University (155 miles away) is the
only listed nationally.
Postgraduate Engineer University of Sheffield
As the above tables demonstrate, there are a substantial number of potential Apprenticeship
Frameworks and Standards available to support the skills development of the workforce in
most aspects of the offshore wind industry – 62 are identified above.
How the industry interacts with the Apprenticeships landscape is worthy of further
investigation – not least in the following areas:
o Not just in wind power, engineering, etc., but also in logistics, steel fixers,
vessels, supply chain management, etc.
• The Apprenticeship landscape is shifting away from “frameworks” and towards
“standards”. Frameworks which are in use and valued by employers are being
transitioned into Standards – those that are not will, at some point in the not-too-
distant future, be terminated.
• The availability of training provision where it is required most. For example, there
are no providers of Wind Turbine Apprenticeship training in the East Anglia area
and there are no training providers within 50 miles of Hull for 23 of the 62
identified Apprenticeship frameworks / standards
o It appears that an important factor here is the perceived / actual lack of
demand for such Apprenticeship training from industry, resulting in
providers being unwilling / unable to develop such provision.
cost).
7.7 Regional Networks, Fora and Agencies Active in

Offshore Wind
This section outlines the main networks, fora and other bodies that exist to support the
offshore wind sector both within The Energy Estuary.
A further list of other networks, fora and agencies that cover the UK and Europe can be
found in Annex 3.
Figure 40: Support networks and bodies in and around the Energy Estuary
Name Description Coverage Extent of involvement in skills
Centre for the Working across the private and public sectors CATCH Located in They run several networks including:
Assessment runs capital and business support programmes, Grimsby • Skills & competency
of Technical network groups, skills programmes, conferences, • Human factors
Competency events and publications aimed at encouraging best • Science Industries Apprenticeship Consortium
(CATCH) practice, knowledge exchange and business • Human Resources
excellence. • Humber Contractor Competency Forum –
http://www.catchuk.org/ including ConCom and PreQual which assess
contractor competencies.
They are also a training provider for Mechanical,
Process and Health & Safety training.
Green Port Collaboration between Hull City and East Riding Port of Promotes job vacancies in the area, particularly with
Hull Councils and Associated British Ports (ABP) along Hull Siemens.
with other partner organisations. East Provides high-level advice and labour market
Significant funding has been secured for skills & Riding information and signposts to other useful resources.
employment, business support, and research and
development to ensure that local people and business
gain maximum benefit from the renewable energy
sector.
http://greenporthull.co.uk/
Grimsby The Grimsby Renewables Partnership is a local group Grimsby No specific actions are listed on their website other
Renewables which has formed to promote local companies to the than promoting the area, and its workforce, to current
Partnership rapidly increasing offshore wind activity in the area. and prospective companies.
Activities of the Grimsby Renewables Partnership
include:
• Showcasing the North East Lincolnshire's local
business offer to the industry
• Regular networking events
• Seminars and informative sessions on
opportunities
• Notifications of key developments in the industry
• Work with top tier companies to understand their
requirements and help promote member
companies to satisfy that demand
http://investnel.co.uk/grp
Humber LEP They are a partnership of business, education and the Humber Their Employment and Skills Board (the university is
four Humber local authorities working together to represented by Adam Greenwood) has lead on the
promote and develop the area surrounding the development of a six-year Employment and Skills
Humber Estuary and provide strategic economic Strategy, aligned to the Strategic Economic Plan
leadership to create jobs and deliver growth. (SEP) that identifies the skills needed to support local
Their priorities are: growth and priority interventions to deliver them.
• A skilled and productive workforce Key projects include:
• An infrastructure that supports growth • Skills Pledge (which employers can sign up to)
• Thriving successful businesses • The Humber Gold Standard (for careers
http://www.humberlep.org/ education & IAG providers)
• The Skills Network (it appears that University of
Hull is not in this network)
• Area Based Review
• Skills Support for the Workforce
A new Industrial Strategy for the Humber is being
developed (see recommendation 1 below).
Team Humber With 200 members across the marine and offshore Humber Team Humber Marine Alliance has joined with other
Marine supply chain, including commercial shipping, marine organisations on a number of important initiatives:
Alliance engineering, support vessels, specialist health & • Humber University Technical College (now
safety, ports and logistics. called Engineering UTC Northern
They provide expert advice, bring companies together Lincolnshire)
to collaborate on joint ventures and supply chain • Hull College – Ports & Logistics Sector Lead
opportunities, lobby government and represent their as Humber LEP’s Skills Support for the
members at key UK and European conference and Workforce initiative (see Humber LEP above)
exhibitions. They also host and organise numerous • Humber Marine Academy (no information can
events throughout the year, including the Offshore be found relating to this)
Wind Connections conference. • THMA Marine & Offshore Skills forum (no
http://www.thma.co.uk/skills/ information about this forum has been found
or received following a request from THMA)
• Hull Training – THELMA Project (no
information can be found relating to this)
Operations OMCE is funded by a £2m collaboration between Located No direct involvement in skills development issues.
and ORE Catapult and the University of Hull, building on on the
Maintenance the region’s energy heritage, location and experience Humber
Centre of of servicing UK offshore wind farms. National
Excellence The five-year partnership will see a series of research resource
(OMCE) and innovation projects developed to improve the way
that offshore wind farms are operated and maintained.
https://ore.catapult.org.uk/operation-
performance/strategic-programmes/omce/
7.8 Conclusions
The Energy Estuary is right at the heart of the UK’s offshore wind industry and will play a
central role in delivering and supporting the growth of the industry in the North Sea.
Offshore wind generating capacity is predicted to increase from 0.9GW in 2017 to 7.7GW by
2032 (22% of total UK capacity), including the installation of more than 1,000 new turbines.
This could see employment in the Region growing to more than 9,200 (from 1,500 in 2017).
Gaining the required talent, although not a significant problem at the moment, may become
more challenging as the project pipeline becomes a reality and, at the same time, the
regional workforce will have to satisfy the demands of over £14bn of investment in the wider
energy and infrastructure sector across the region. While offshore wind is a significant
element of this investment, other energy, utilities and transport infrastructure will likely
provide strong competition for good operative, technical and engineering skills in particular –
which could reach demand for 100,000 people by 2024, including 30,000 skilled trades and
nearly 30,000 operatives, technicians and engineers.
The ability of the regional labour market to meet these talent demands is unclear – while the
region has a high proportion of people with level 2 and 3 skills (forming a good operative and
skilled trades base) it may well lack the required higher-level skills, with fewer than 1,900
graduates in 2015 / 16 with relevant degrees from the region’s universities.
In terms of how the offshore wind industry engages with Apprenticeships, several issues
have been identified that warrant further investigation:
• The availability of training provision where it is required most. It appears that
there is a perceived / actual lack of demand for such Apprenticeship training from
industry, resulting in providers being unwilling / unable to develop new provision.
cost).
Creating a larger and more diverse talent pool is essential if the region is to capitalise fully on
the benefits of a growing offshore wind industry.
As a result of this significant economic activity, several initiatives and collaborations aimed at
supporting the industry along the Energy Estuary have already been established, including
organisations such as Green Port Hull, Humber LEP and Team Humber Marine Alliance.
Each of these organisations have already established skills-related groups or networks with a
view to identifying the issues affecting the development of both technology and the required
workforce / skills. Therefore, an initial task for Aura should be to identify where it can fit into
this landscape in order to maximise impact – see the recommendations in chapter 8 below.
Overall, both the sector and region need a holistic education and training focus to ensure that
growth is not constrained89, and as part of the UK’s industrial strategy, the offshore
renewable energy industry presents a golden opportunity to align national skills development
with local spatial skills development90. Therefore, Aura will need to ensure that its voice is
heard in terms of the new Industrial Strategy for the Humber (lead by Humber LEP) and the
Offshore Wind Sector Deal (being led by the Offshore Wind Industry Council).
89Solutions to Offshore Wind Sector Needs – Draft 2. Aura, 16.07.17

sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Undated.
8. Recommendations
Number Recommendation Issue
Promote skills • The promotion of skills development down through the supply chain, via procurement
development throughout processes, is a growing area within the energy and utilities sector.
the supply chain. • The Energy & Utility Skills Partnership’s Procurement Skills Accord offers a structured
A practical example of and supported approach to achieving this and currently has 40 companies signed up to
this could be the it.
1 application of the • Aura should consider the relevance to this type of activity to the offshore wind industry
Procurement Skills and whether it is appropriate to promote such supply chain collaboration within the
Accord principles within offshore wind industry.
the sector. • More information can be found at (http://www.euskills.co.uk/about/energy-utilities-skills-
partnership/skills-accord/.
Promote and facilitate • Many companies in the offshore wind industry will be paying 0.5% of its salary bill into
investment in skills for the Apprenticeship Levy. From May 2018, these employers will be able to transfer up to
the benefit of the whole 10% of funds to another organisation to pay for their training and assessment against
sector. an Apprenticeship standard (however, this does not apply to Apprenticeship
A practical example frameworks).
could be to use the • This could allow larger asset owners and tier 1 suppliers, if they have unused Levy
Apprenticeship Levy funds, to help fund the Apprenticeship training of one of its smaller supply chain
2
Transfer Policy to benefit companies, who might otherwise struggle to fund / engage with Apprenticeships.
supplier workforce • Aura should look to promote / facilitate this opportunity throughout the offshore wind
development industry. Energy & Utility Skills run a Levy Advisory Group
(http://www.euskills.co.uk/about/our-work/apprenticeship-services/apprenticeship-levy/)
and more details about the transfer policy can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transferring-apprenticeship-service-funds.
Consider the creation of • Many of the larger, and more well-known, organisations in the offshore wind industry
a talent network for the may not struggle to find appropriate applicants for many of their job vacancies and
offshore wind industry trainee programmes (though certain exceptions will apply). However, this may not be
the case down in the supply chain, where the “employer brand” may not be so strong.
• Aura should consider whether an initiative such as Talent Source Network might be
beneficial to the offshore wind industry. The Network seeks to bring together employers
and those looking to for employment – whether they’re looking for Apprenticeship or
3
graduate opportunities, or they’re service leavers, career changers or those looking to
return to work. The Network also looks to link-up unsuccessful applicants with other
employers who are looking for similar skills.
• The Network is currently used by 24 of the largest utility companies in the UK and
contains the details of over 3,700 people with utilities-relevant skills.
• More information can be found at http://www.talentsourcenetwork.co.uk/.
Encourage and facilitate • We have seen evidence of several issues affecting the training of Apprentices in
supply chain specific localities (notably in East Anglia, where Wind Turbine Technician Apprentices
collaboration to have been sent up to the Humber region to receive their technical training). This issue
aggregate training of putting on low-volume / high-cost training can be a barrier for many skills providers.
4 demand, ensuring • Aura should consider whether there is an opportunity for them to facilitate the
provision is there when aggregation of such low volume / high cost training which could result in aggregated
needed demand being sufficient to persuade training bodies to supply the necessary provision
within the required local area.
Consider ways of • Gaining on-the-job experience without actually going offshore in an issue that many
supporting the workforce employers must deal with. With teams working offshore typically being very small and
in gaining valuable on- the allowable down-time of a turbine being kept to a minimum for commercial reasons,
the-job / practical undertaken training and development on-site is a challenge.
experience before going • Aura should consider how the industry can tackle this issue through the provision of
5
offshore – maximising training via realistic assets onshore.
the exposure to “real • This would aid Apprentices in completing their programmes as well as supporting
world” situations and upskilling and refresher training (e.g. advanced fault-finding and Advanced first aid and
assets prior to going rescue) without the time and expense of going offshore.
offshore
Investigate the potential • Aura should consider engaging with industry to identify specific skills areas where
for on-line, distance upskilling / refresher training development could benefit from the creation of targeted
learning upskilling / modular provision. Such provision might be accessible on-line 24/7 and focus on such
refresher modules areas as:
6
o Leadership skills - upskilling the leaders of the future (e.g. building on the technical
skills developed through the Apprenticeship)
o General H&S and industry safety rules and regulations
Promote STEM • The proportion of Yorkshire & Humber residents that hold a Level 4+ qualification is the
educational progression third lowest of the 12 regions in the UK and just 12 of the 955 graduates from relevant
and the opportunities disciplines in 2015 / 16 entered employment in the energy sector.
and career pathways • If the local workforce is to benefit from the potentially significant growth in offshore wind
7 available for higher-level over the coming 15 years, more needs to be done to increase progression – especially
achievers of females – from GCSE, through A Levels and vocational training, into higher-level
STEM education, and eventually into employment in the sector. The alternative is that
skills are brought in from outside of the region.
The sector to consider • Many employers spoken to as part of this research have highlighted the lack of
how to bring about common standards across technologies, companies and infrastructure sectors. This
common technical adds significantly each employer’s training costs and time.
training and H&S • This may be a symptom of being a relatively immature industry, but there appears to be
standards and relevant an increasing recognition that it is time to start work on this issue.
8 passport schemes – • It may well require the engagement and co-ordination of several other organisations
enabling the free(er) active in the sector and in infrastructure sectors (for example, RenewableUK, Global
movement of skills Wind Organisation, etc.).
between technologies, • EU Skills has some experience of developing industry-wide “Competency Accords” as
companies and other well as developing and administering Passport schemes and would be happy to help.
sectors
Consideration should be • There are several agencies that aim to support the workforce development needs of the
given to how the Aura offshore wind industry along Energy Estuary and Aura needs to establish itself in that
can develop its own landscape.
value proposition for the • Aura should actively engage with all agencies to promote and support the skills and
industry / region, workforce development activities of the offshore wind industry. Including:
bringing together o Involvement in the development of the new Industrial Strategy for the Humber
existing organisations, (https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/yorkshire/lep-sets-out-energy-estuary-
networks, fora, etc. plans)
o Involvement in the Humber LEP’s Skills Network
9
(http://www.humberlep.org/skills/skills-network/)
o Join the People and Skills Working Group as part of the Offshore Wind Sector
Deal
• The Humber LEP Board should consider how best to engage with Aura and identify
areas where Aura can actively support the activities of the Board.
• The University of Hull does not appear to be represented on Humber LEP’s
Apprenticeship Group – given some of the issues relating to Apprenticeships identified
in this report, membership of this group may be something to consider
Facilitate the • There is plenty of research to that suggests employer engagement with schools and
engagement between other education institutions is valuable in terms of turning pupils / students on to
employers and schools specific career paths.
and other education • However, the quality of the engagement is a crucial factor – both in terms of specific
institutions in a way that activities on any particular day and also in terms of the longer-term relationship
maximises the impact for between the employer and institution and students.
the whole sector / • Some employers interviewed as part of this research have stated that as they are not
regional supply chain “high profile” in the community (e.g. a tier 2 supply chain company), it can often be
difficult to get into schools to promote their career opportunities.
• Aura should consider how it can promote the opportunities on offer within the sector,
10
and the Humber regional supply chain, to young people and the extent to which it can
facilitate the collaboration of regional employers (including all aspects of the supply
chain) to maximise the impact of employer-school engagement.
• A key aspect of this will leveraging the brand names of Siemens, Ørsted, etc. to bring
about benefits for lower tiers of the supply chain (e.g. tier 2 and below) who are
generally smaller employers, with fewer resources and little in the way of recognisable
“employer brand”.
• Finally, employers are not educators or careers advisers. Therefore, where necessary,
Aura should seek out and embrace the specialist support that is available in this area.
Consider activities to • Although data relating to the gender and ethnicity of the offshore wind workforce is very
promote the offshore difficult to find, we do know that 22% of the wider electricity industry’s workforce is
wind industry to females, female – and that these are primarily in non-technical roles (e.g. admin / secretarial and
BAME and other under- customer services).
represented • In terms of ethnic diversity, just 5% of the UK power sector workforce is from a BAME
communities background – in Yorkshire & Humber this figure is 4% and in the East Midlands 5.2%.
In comparison, 14% of the UK population is from a BAME background, as is 8.5% of
Yorkshire & Humber and 8.0% of the regions’ available workforces.
11 • With white males with good technical skills becoming a reducing proportion of the UK
workforce, the benefits – even the necessity – of having a workforce that draws upon
the skills of the whole community is clear.
• Therefore, if the offshore wind industry wants to demonstrate that it is an inclusive
employer and that it makes the most of the skills on offer across the whole of the
communities in which it operates and serves, it should consider what activities it can
undertake to promote the opportunities they have to offer in a way that facilitates
access to all sections of the available workforce.
Regularly review the • The project pipeline for offshore wind detailed in this report contains a total of 35
offshore wind project individual projects, at various stages of development.
pipeline and high-level • It is important to maintain visibility of this pipeline as it developments over the coming
employment projections years – monitoring the progress of already known projects and identifying new projects
for the UK in order to as they come along.
maintain visibility of • Knowing the size, timeframe and likely employment demands of these individual
12 industry labour demands projects (as opposed to high-level industry forecasts of MW output) will be important in
determining how they might affect a region’s workforce strategy.
• It is also important to regularly update the high-level employment projections carried out
by Cambridge Econometrics. However, in future updates, more analysis should be
sought on the skills and job roles principally affected by growth in overall labour
demand.
Regularly review the • With £7.3bn of investment across the infrastructure sector planned for Yorkshire &
nature, timing and labour Humber by 2020 / 21, it will be important to monitor how this impacts upon the local
demands other major labour force and the ability of offshore wind companies to recruit the skills they need
infrastructure projects in locally.
the area • The National Infrastructure Pipeline is regularly updated regularly and is easily
accessible in Excel format (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/infrastructure-
and-projects-authority).
• Furthermore, as the offshore oil and gas sector is often quoted as being a valuable
13
source of skilled labour, it would be wise to continue to monitor the economic and
labour / workforce trends of the sector. The workforce reductions that have occurred
over the past few years appear to be slowing down as the price of crude oil has risen
(albeit only slightly).
• Oil and Gas UK produce an annual workforce report which suggests that the decline in
employment in the sector is starting to slow down (https://oilandgasuk.co.uk/workforce-
report/).
Many of the recommendations above revolve around building industry collaboration – not just horizontally across the larger companies
(e.g. Scottish Power, Siemens, Ørsted, etc.), but throughout the supply chain. Many of the tier 2 and below suppliers face difficulties in
recruiting and training that many of the larger companies do not. This is a key theme throughout the Industrial Strategy91.
Therefore, the Offshore Wind Sector Deal really does need to work for the whole sector – taking all tiers forward together.
91 Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future, HM Government, 2017.
Annex 1 – Bibliography
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https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/resources/2017/08/analysis-of-gcse-stem-entries-and-
results on 27th March 2018.
Annual Population Survey, April 2015 to March 2016, ONS.
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS, 2017.
Census of Population, ONS, 2011.
Taken from http://crossrail2.co.uk/, accessed on 21st March 2018.
Department for Education, FE data library: Apprenticeships, accessed from

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships on 27th
March 2018.
Destinations of Leavers Survey and Student Record, 2011/12 and 2015/16, HESA.
The Economic Case for a Tidal Lagoon Industry in the UK, Cebr/ Tidal Lagoon Power Ltd,
July 2014.
Engineering-related skills shortages in the UK’s electricity transmission and distribution

industry: A submission by Energy & Utility Skills and the National Skills Academy for Power
to the Migration Advisory Committee, June 2011 (unpublished).
Engineering UK 2017: The state of engineering, EngineeringUK, 2017.
Full power at Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm, accessed from

https://orsted.co.uk/Media/Newsroom/News/2018/02/Full-power-at-Race-Bank-Offshore-
Wind-Farm, 22nd February 2018.
Future UK Employment in the Offshore Wind Industry, Cambridge Econometrics, June 2017.
A guide to UK offshore wind operations and maintenance, Scottish Enterprise and The
Crown Estate, 2013.
Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future, HM Government, 2017.
Industrial Strategy: Artificial Intelligence Sector Deal, HM Government, 2018.
Low carbon and renewable energy economy final estimates, ONS, 31st January 2018.
Many Skills One Vision: Energy and Utilities Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy: 2020,
Energy & Utility Skills Limited, 2017.
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Authority, 6 December 2017.
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December 2017.
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https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationpr
ojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2016basedstatisticalbulletin on 13th
December 2017.
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NOF Energy Event, Siemens Gamesa 01/11/2017
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and Industrial Strategy, 2017.
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http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/xxx-11364258123904 on 22nd March 2018.
Planning your resilient and sustainable workforce in a fast-changing business environment,

accessed from http://www.euskills.co.uk/strategic-workforce-planning on 17th January 2018.
A portrait of modern Britain, Policy Exchange, 2014.
Quarterly Labour Force Survey, October-December 2017, ONS.
Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey 2017, CIPD, 2017.
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and Skills, in National college for wind energy DEBATE PACK Number CDP-2016/0197,
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https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemploye
etypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/february2018#employment on 12th March 2018.
The STEM Education Pipeline 2017, accessed from
https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/resources/2017/11/from-classroom-to-boardroom-the-
stem-pipeline-2017 on 27th March 2018.
The Open University Business Barometer, 2017.
The new economics of offshore wind, Aurora Energy Research, January 2018.
Vacancy Survey (VACS02), ONS, February 2018.
UK Employer Skills Survey (2015), UKCES, 2016.
UK Labour Market: March 2018, Accessed from:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemploye
etypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/march2018#employment on 27th March 2018.
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http://www.energylivenews.com/2017/06/27/uks-new-nuclear-builds-set-to-double-jobs/ on
21st March 2018.
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November 2014.
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& Wind Europe, June 2017.
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28th November 2017.
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November 2016.
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Platform, August 2013.
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Econometrics, 2014.
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Your career in offshore wind energy, BCG Associates / RenewableUK, 2010.
Annex 2 – Honours Degree Groupings
The subjects highlighted in red had no Honours degree achievements in 2015 / 16; but
otherwise would have been included in the analysis in section 6.2.3
Broad subject 4-digit JACS code

Civil (H200) Civil engineering
(H290) Civil engineering not elsewhere classified
Design (H150) Engineering design
Electronic & Electrical (H600) Electronic & electrical engineering

(H610) Electronic engineering
(H620) Electrical engineering
(H630) Electrical power
(H690) Electronic & electrical engineering not elsewhere
classified
Environmental sciences (F660) Geophysics

(F700) Science of aquatic & terrestrial environments
(F750) Environmental sciences
(F751) Applied environmental sciences
(F790) Science of aquatic & terrestrial environments not
elsewhere classified
(F810) Environmental geography
(H220) Environmental engineering
(H223) Environmental impact assessment
Marine (C161) Marine biology

(F710) Marine sciences
(F720) Hydrography
(F730) Ocean sciences
(H350) Offshore engineering
(J610) Marine technology
(J690) Marine technology not elsewhere classified
Mechanical (H300) Mechanical engineering

(H390) Mechanical engineering not elsewhere classified
Naval (H500) Naval architecture
Broad subject 4-digit JACS code
Production / Manufacturing (H700) Production & manufacturing engineering
Engineering (H790) Production & manufacturing engineering not
elsewhere classified
Structural (H210) Structural engineering
Annex 3 – Other Relevant Networks and Fora
The following organisations, networks, fora and agencies are active in the skills arena of the UK offshore wind industry.
Name Description Coverage

East of EEEGR provides its members with a range of benefits including business introductions, networking East of
England opportunities, free job advertising, event discounts and up-to-date industry intelligence (https://www.eeegr.com/). England
Energy Group They run a programme called Skills for Energy (https://www.eeegr.com/skills-for-energy/) which consists of: region
(EEEGR) • Energy Skills Foundation programme – One-year, NVQ Level 2 pre-Apprenticeship
• Degree Programme Support – MSc supporting University of East Anglia’s undergraduate and
postgraduate energy engineering programmes
• Military in the Energy Industry – Providing help, support and guidance to service leavers, including
working with those that are serving, have left or are leaving the forces.
• Introductory Training Courses – An “introduction to offshore wind” one-day course (suitable for non-
technical roles).
• Annual Skills for Energy Event – aimed at connecting young people, parents and teachers with energy
companies.
Energy Skills The ESP (http://www.esp-scotland.ac.uk/) vision is of a college sector which works collaboratively to deliver the Scotland
Partnership right skills, in the right place at the right time for the energy, engineering and construction sectors, maximising
(ESP) Scotland’s economic development and the generation of industry capacity for jobs growth.
ESP secured £500k funding to establish the Wind and Marine Training Network, a formal college network to
support large-scale renewables across Scotland.
ESP has supported the development of the Wind Turbine Technician course, now delivered across the network.
ESP have also supported Wind Turbine Technicians to gain other vital qualifications for the wind sector such as
working at heights which allows students to gain work placements in industry by gaining first-hand experience of
working at heights.
Offshore The OWIC is responsible for overseeing implementation of the Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy and is the UK
Wind Industrysponsoring body of the Offshore Wind Programme Board. They are currently leading on the development of the
Council Offshore Wind Sector Deal.
(OWIC) https://ore.catapult.org.uk/work-with-us/industry/offshore-wind-industry-council/
RenewableUK Policy Forums help form RenewableUK's policy position and industry strategy and are made up of UK
– Offshore representatives from our membership who are experts in their field. (RUK
Wind Policy They are open exclusively to RenewableUK members and are designed to provide updates on the latest policy members
Forum and business news. only)
The Forum is chaired by Jane Cooper of Ørsted
(https://www.renewableuk.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?alias=offshorepf)
RenewableUK The RenewableUK Skills and Employment Strategy Group aims to identify and address issues on the skills UK
– Skills and agenda, providing the means for a collaborative and concerted skills strategy for the industry and providing (RUK
Employment direct input into RenewableUK’s policy work. members
Strategy Membership of the group includes industry employers, academia, training providers, and recruitment specialists. only)
Group RenewableUK’s work on the skills agenda includes:
• Skills and Employment Strategy Group (SESG)
• Renewables Training Network (RTN)
• Working for a Green Britain and Northern Ireland employment research
• Human Resources Network
• Renewables Sector Salary Survey
• Job / course listings and careers information
• Annual RenewableUK Careers Fair
• Educational resources
Subsea UK Subsea UK is the industry body and focal point for the British subsea industry. We act for the whole supply chain UK
bringing together operators, contractors, suppliers and people in the industry. They provide a national forum for
collaboration, diversification, commercialisation of technology and coordinated marketing in the UK and abroad.
Key priorities for Subsea UK are:
• Ensuring that the UK maintains its world leading position in subsea
• Creating a Centre of Subsea Excellence in the UK.
• Facilitating programmes that address the key skills shortages in the industry.
• Bringing industry, academia and government together to accelerate the development of the next
generation of subsea technologies.
• Helping member companies diversify into other sectors and other geographical markets.
Skills To ensure that skills issues across Scotland’s energy sector are articulated by industry leaders, understood by Scotland
Industry the Government agencies and effectively addressed through private and public sector partnerships.
Leadership To influence and support the Scottish Energy Advisory Board and its industry leadership groups (ILGs) by
Group providing strategic direction on cross cutting energy skills issues
Oversee, co-ordinate and evaluate delivery of the Skills Investment Plan for Energy
Work collaboratively with ILGs to identify and address key skills issues across Scotland’s energy sub-sectors
Skills Despite the emergence of a European market, staff qualifications are still regulated at local or national level. Europe
network for Windskill is designed to overcome this critical barrier, aiming to create a European Qualification Profile for on-
European and offshore workers.
wind energy Appropriate curricula will be developed and tested on approximately 50 workers in Germany, France,
(WINDSKILL) Netherlands and Italy. The project will include Europe-wide recognition of the established minimum standards –
a major step towards a fully functioning industry and the mobility of its workers.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/en/projects/windskill
North Seas This cooperation has two goals: Europe
Energy • facilitating the cost-effective deployment of offshore renewable energy, in particular wind
Cooperation • promoting interconnection between the countries in the region
Amongst their work areas is a project looking at identifying standards, technical rules and regulations in the
offshore wind sector
(https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/20161003_support_group_4_strr_web_version_final.pdf)
The other areas are maritime spatial planning; development and regulation of offshore grids and other offshore
infrastructure; and support framework and finance for offshore wind projects.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/infrastructure/north-seas-energy-cooperation
The following organisations, networks, fora and agencies are active in the UK offshore wind industry but do not have a specific focus on
skills. However, some do, when it aligns with their primary ambitions, get involved in promoting or influencing skills provision and solutions
within their area / remit.

European EUA-EPUE aims at being a central forum in Europe for universities to share ideas for new Europe
Platform of research and education projects and find interested partners in the field of energy.
Universities in EUA-EPUE, therefore, seeks to:
Energy Research • Pool the richness and diversity of university expertise to direct efforts towards addressing
& Education the EU challenge for the transition to a low-carbon society.
(EUA-EPUE) • Make visible the substantial contribution of European universities in the implementation of
the SET-Plan and EU energy strategies.
• Give to universities the opportunity to have a collective voice in consultations on
European energy matters.
• Act as a sustainable open platform that facilitates the creation of synergies between
universities and fosters intra-European and multi-disciplinary collaboration.
http://www.eua.be/policy-representation/research-innovation-policy/european-platform-of-
universities-in-energy-research-education
European Energy The mission for EERA JP Wind is to provide strategic leadership for medium to long-term Europe
Research research and to support the European wind energy industry and societal stakeholders. The joint
Alliance (EERA) programme brings together all public research organisations in Europe with substantial research
Joint Programme and innovation efforts in wind energy. EERA JP WIND aims to provide its members with the
on Wind following benefits:
• Support R&D managers in institutions
• Influence EU strategic research priorities
• Access a unique pool of knowledge, data and research facilities
• Being part of globally leading network of wind energy researchers
https://windeurope.org/
European ETIPWind connects Europe’s wind energy community - industry, political stakeholders and Europe
Technology & research institutions.
Innovation The scope of ETIPWind is to create a virtual and physical platform via which the wind energy
Platform for community can communicate, coordinate and collaborate its work and activities related to
Wind Energy research, innovation and technology. The ambition is to define and agree on concrete research
(ETIPWind) and innovation priorities and communicate these to the European institutions and other decision-
making bodies in order to support the ambition of reaching the RES targets for 2020. ETIPWind
thus advises policy makers in a systematic and coordinated way, facilitating collaboration and
sharing information with all wind energy stakeholders.
https://etipwind.eu/
National Subsea The National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) is the research arm of Subsea UK. It has been UK
Research set up to bring academia and industry together to collaborate on getting technology to market
Initiative much more quickly. The NSRI aims to be the focal point for the co-ordination of research and
(NSRI) development activities for the UK’s subsea sector.
http://www.nsri.co.uk/
Offshore The primary objective of the group is to act as a forum to improve industry knowledge and UK
Renewable emerging good practice on the prevention and response to offshore emergencies taking account
Energy of the unique challenges encountered with the current and proposed development of Offshore
Emergency Renewable Energy Installations (OREI).
Forum http://www.renewableuk.com/page/OREEF
(OREEF)
Offshore Wind The Offshore Wind Industry Group (OWIG) was formed to provide a forum for the public sector, Scotland
Industry Group offshore wind developers and other parties to drive the success of the industry into Scotland.
(OWIG) The role of the Group is to identify and take forward the actions necessary to support the industry
in realising the fullest economic and environmental benefits for Scotland.
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-sources/19185/offshorewind
Offshore Wind The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub is the UK’s primary coordinator for innovation, focusing on UK
Innovation Hub offshore wind energy cost reduction and maximising UK economic impact
https://offshorewindinnovationhub.com/
Offshore Wind The board brings together senior representatives from industry (including developers and supply UK
Programme chain), UK government, The Crown Estate and Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies.
Board The board's objective will be to implement the Task Force's recommendations to drive cost
(OWPB) reduction, to treat the UK's offshore wind sector as one business by assessing risks and barriers
and tackle these by helping to find and implement solutions in partnership with the wider industry.
https://ore.catapult.org.uk/work-with-us/industry/offshore-wind-programme-board/
Scottish Scottish Renewables is the voice of renewable energy in Scotland and is committed to realising Scotland
Renewables – the full economic, social and environmental benefits of renewable energy for our country.
Offshore Wind We believe that both Scotland and the UK benefit from a strong renewable energy sector in
Network Scotland that delivers jobs and investment, while cutting our carbon emissions and securing our
energy supplies.
In representing our members, we aim to lead and inform the debate on how the growth of
renewable energy can help sustainably heat and power Scotland’s homes and businesses.
http://www.scottishrenewables.com/sectors/list/offshore-wind/
Subsea North Subsea North East promotes the North East of England as a world class centre for offshore North East
East technologies and solutions around subsea; encourages closer collaboration across the sector in
the region; showcases the businesses, which are leading subsea developments around the
world; demonstrates the importance of the sector to the region; and highlights future projects and
opportunities for the sector and supply chain.
https://www.nofenergy.co.uk/subsea-north-east/
SUPERGEN The Supergen Hub brings together the underpinning research efforts in Wind Energy in the UK UK
Wind Hub and links them more strongly to the development research being supported by other funding
organisations.
The SUPERGEN Wind Hub currently includes the Universities of Strathclyde, Durham,
Loughborough, Cranfield, Manchester, Oxford, Surrey, Bristol, Imperial and Dundee alongside
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, DNV GL and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.
The Hub is funded for five years to 2019.
The aim of the Hub is to continue to develop the important academic, industrial and policy
linkages that were established during the earlier phases of the SUPERGEN Wind programme
(2006-2014), and to lead the technology strategy for driving forward UK wind energy research
and for exploiting the research outcomes.
https://www.supergen-wind.org.uk/
WindEurope WindEurope is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting wind power in Europe and Europe
worldwide.
They actively coordinate international policy, communications, research and analysis. They
analyse, formulate and establish policy positions for the wind industry on key strategic sectoral
issues, cooperating with industry and research institutions on several market development and
technology research projects. Additionally, the lobbying activities undertaken by WindEurope
help create a suitable legal framework within which members can successfully develop their
businesses.
The following Local Enterprise Partnerships have recognised the importance of the offshore wind industry to their economies:
Name Description
Coast2Capital Although they have no specific priority sectors, they do recognise the potential of a growing offshore industry –
Between particularly as Newhaven is E.ON’s O&M base for the Rampion wind farm.
Portsmouth in the
east and
Eastbourne in the
east)
Cornwall and the The wider energy sector is recognised as a significant potential opportunity, including the development and
Isles of Scilly deployment of new and innovative offshore technologies. They are positioning themselves to be at the forefront
of new technology developments by providing a testbed, particularly around offshore generating and establishing
regional energy systems.
Greater Low carbon – There are major opportunities for growth in offshore wind as well as in the development of other
Lincolnshire low carbon goods and services. We will collaborate with our partner LEPs (Humber and New Anglia, both
centres of offshore renewable excellence) to support delivery of this important activity. It will become the biggest
Enterprise Zone in the UK and will position the area as one of the major hubs for the renewables sector in the
UK.
These developments will further unlock the economic potential of the Humber estuary, and help to stimulate
growth in North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire. Proposed developments will significantly
increase demand for skilled engineers to support both construction and O&M and require employers to up-skill
their existing workforce to meet evolving industry training standards.
Ports and logistics – Our ports and logistics sector will continue to underpin growth of our key sectors as well
as generating opportunities for wider economic growth.
Heart of the South Although not a strategic strength of the area, it is recognised that they have world class offshore wind resources,
West LEP including the South West Marine Energy Park, which is developing 9,200MW of marine energy and offshore wind
by 2020.
Name Description
New Anglia Focus on energy and ports and logistics.
(LEP for Norfolk Norfolk & Suffolk are leading the way in delivering sustainable and low carbon energy solutions to underpin
and Suffolk) economic growth across the UK. The Southern North Sea currently plays host to over 150 offshore gas assets,
together with 986 offshore wind turbines generating 3.75GW of renewable power directly off the region’s coast,
with an additional 1,000+ turbines generating some 14GW of offshore wind power to be installed over the next
decade. The sector is driving down costs through innovation and collaboration, developing new technologies
across our energy system, maximising offshore production and generation.
The New Anglia LEP has commissioned an Energy Sector Skills Plan for New Anglia. This is being compiled
by Skills Reach and will cover offshore wind skills, workforce supply, opportunities and challenges.
North East LEP North East Enterprise Zone - Offering a range of sites for investment into advanced manufacturing, around the
Blyth Estuary, sites build on the presence of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult with a focus on supporting
businesses linked to offshore energy and marine engineering. Along the north bank of the Tyne three sites
support the region’s wider CORE (Centre for Offshore Wind and Renewable Engineering) status as a focus for
business growth.
Tyne Offshore Centre - The Tyne Offshore Centre, a collaboration between Newcastle University and British
Engines, is a major research and hyperbaric testing facility located on the north bank of the Tyne sitting in close
proximity to offshore manufacturing and production businesses located on Tyneside.
Business support - The oil and gas sector is fluctuating as a result of changes in oil price, but our businesses
have significant opportunities for diversification, in particular into other energy sectors. New manufacturing
support services will help diversification and growth.
National Centre for Energy Systems Integration - The creation of the £20m National Centre for Energy
Systems Integration (CESI) at Newcastle Science Central will bring together energy expertise from across the
world to work collaboratively on future networks for the supply and demand for energy.
Name Description
Solent LEP Solent has strengths in emerging sectors and technologies, such as composite manufacturing, marine
autonomous systems, offshore wind and tidal energy; sectors in which our skills and innovation assets can give
us first to market advantage.
The Isle of Wight is now a major site for the development of composite materials, used by GKN (Airbus), GURIT
(Automobile and Marine), BAE systems (warships), local boat-builders and Vestas' wind turbine blade research
and testing facility.
In August 2017 they held an Offshore Wind Sector Deal Roundtable -
South East LEP Low carbon environmental goods and services, including SE LEP status as a nationally designated Centre
for Offshore Renewable Engineering.
Tees Valley LEP Tees Valley is leading developments in the renewable sector. It boasts a growing cluster of biomass, biofuel,
bioethanol and energy from waste plants. It also has plans to develop Europe’s first Industrial Carbon Capture
and Storage (ICCS) equipped industrial zone.
There is an increasing demand to build renewable energy assets, in particular offshore wind, and Tees Valley
has been awarded UK Government CORE status as a Centre for Offshore Renewable Engineering. This is in
recognition of the area’s existing port infrastructure, available skills and supply chain and will enable rapid growth
in the offshore wind sector.
The region benefits from good access to supply chains and from 16.5GWE of wind farm development within easy
reach of port sites. Its main advantage over rival locations is its proximity to the northern North Sea, which
experiences higher than average wind speeds than anywhere else in Europe.
York, North While they have no specific focus on offshore wind, they do recognise and support the development of the
Yorkshire and East offshore wind industry.
Riding Enterprise
Partnership
Annex 4 – Potential Apprenticeship
Frameworks and Standards
The following Apprenticeship frameworks and standards have been identified as being
potentially relevant to employers in the offshore wind industry:
Level 2
Construction Civil Engineering: Steelfixing
Construction Civil Engineering: Steelfixing Occupations Major Projects
Construction Steel Fixer
Engineering Manufacture: Engineering Maintenance and Installation
Engineering Manufacture: Fabrication and Welding
Engineering Manufacture: Marine (Ship, Yacht, Boatbuilding, Maintenance and Repair)
Logistics Operations: Logistics Operative
Logistics Operations: Logistics Support Operative
Management: Team Leading
Maritime Occupations: Able Seafarer / tug rating - engine room
Maritime Occupations: Port Operations
Maritime Occupations: Workboat Operation
Supply Chain Management: Supply Chain Operations
Level 3
Civil Engineering Technician
Engineering Construction: Electrical Installation
Engineering Construction: Electrical Maintenance
Engineering Construction: Instrument and Control
Engineering Construction: Mechanical Fitting
Engineering Construction: Mechanical Maintenance
Engineering Construction: Project Control
Engineering Construction: Steel Erecting
Engineering Manufacture: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Engineering Manufacture: Engineering Maintenance
Engineering Manufacture: Engineering Leadership
Engineering Manufacture: Installation and Commissioning
Engineering Manufacture: Marine (Ship Building, Maintenance and Repair)
Construction Technical and Professional: Geomatics Data Analysis
Logistics Operations: Logistics Operations Team Leader / Section Supervisor
Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician
Marine Engineer
Level 3
Maritime Occupations: Officer of the watch on merchant vessels of less than 500 gross
tonnage - near coastal
Maritime Occupations: Officer of the watch on merchant vessels of less than 3,000
gross tonnage - near coastal
Maritime Occupations: Merchant Navy (Deck)
Maritime Occupations: Merchant Navy (Engineering)
Power network craftsperson
Project Controls Technician
Supply Chain Management
Surveying technician
Team leader / supervisor
Utilities engineering technician
Warehousing and Storage: Senior Warehouse Person / Team Leader
Level 4
Associate project manager
Electrical Power Networks Engineer
Electrical power protection and plant commissioning engineer
Manufacturing Engineering: Electrical / Electronics
Manufacturing Engineering: Maintenance
Manufacturing Engineering: Marine
Manufacturing Engineering: Mechanical
Manufacturing Engineering: Wind Generation
Project Management
Level 5
Supply Chain Management: Supply Chain Specialist
Supply Chain Management: International Supply Chain Manager
Level 6
Chartered manager degree apprenticeship
Chartered surveyor
Civil Engineer
Construction Management: Construction Site Management
Construction Management: Management Quantity Surveying and Commercial
Management
Control / technical support engineer
Electrical / electronic technical support engineer
Level 7
Power Engineer
Postgraduate Engineer
Energy & Utility Skills
W: www.euskills.co.uk
T: 0845 077 99 22
E: [email protected]
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Skills and Labour Requirements of the

UK Offshore Wind Industry

This study demonstrates the importance of delivering a sector-wide strategy to

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following:

Project Employment Literature Expert

In 2017 Cambridge Econometrics (CE) were commissioned by the University of Hull, on

1 http://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDhome, accessed on 28th November 2017.

A full bibliography is included in Annex 1.

Offshore Wind – Industry Growth Potential (the project pipeline)

By 2032, the UK could see more than 35GW of

Overall, between the start of 2018 and 2032:

Offshore Wind – Predicted Employment Opportunities

Direct employment in offshore wind could reach

Competition for Skills – Energy and Infrastructure Sectors

With more than £240bn being invested in the UK’s

Skills Supply and Demand

The availability of Apprenticeship training and higher-

6 As introduced by Government in Industrial Strategy (2017) are partnerships between government

7 http://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDhome, accessed on 28th November 2017.

In total, 65 individual projects were identified at various stages of development:

Wind Europe, June 2017.

3.2 The Project Pipeline

Figure 1: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – generating capacity

There are more offshore wind farms being planned

Source: RenewableUK Wind Energy Database

Potential Installed Capacity around the Regions

Figure 3: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – generating capacity by region

Figure 4: The current UK offshore wind pipeline – number of turbines by region

This chart shows two peak periods of construction activity:

The turbine technology being employed is becoming increasingly more powerful

These estimates were based on a set of input assumptions relating to:

4.2 Employment Estimates

Figure 7: UK Offshore wind employment growth by project stage

Direct employment in offshore wind could increase to

Figure 8: UK Offshore wind employment growth by broad skill level

Despite technological advances, it is anticipated that the occupational structure of the

Figure 9: UK Offshore wind employment growth by region

Factors that Could Affect Employment Demand

2. O&M manpower strategies:

7. Realisation or project pipeline:

5.1 UK Labour Market Context

The Tightest Labour Market for Over 40 Years

24 The webinar can be accessed here: http://www.euskills.co.uk/strategic-workforce-planning

The availability, or lack, of suitably skilled labour is reflected in the prevalence of

Furthermore, a recent survey by CIPD suggests that 72% of HR professionals expect an

In 2015, 36% of vacancies in the energy sector were

27 ONS Vacancy Survey (VACS02), February 2018.

30 Resourcing and Talent Planning survey 2017, CIPD, 2017.

It is unlikely that this situation will ease significantly given:

Supply of Talent Struggling to Meet Current Demand

Changing Population Demographics

33 The Open University Business Barometer, 2017.

37 A portrait of modern Britain, Policy Exchange, 2014.

38 ONS (2016), Annual Population Survey (April 2015 to March 2016).

The UK population is becoming more diverse – the

Adapting to an Uncertain Future

5.2.1 Investment from 2017 / 18 to 2020 / 21

£240bn is being invested in the UK’s infrastructure –

39 National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, Infrastructure and Projects Authority, 6

Authority, 6 December 2017.