We are delighted to present the results of the third annual skills survey, conducted by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC). Since the first survey was conducted in 2020, the British Energy Security Strategy (BESS), published in 2022, has placed offshore wind at the heart of our nation's efforts to boost home-grown, low carbon energy sources as the long-term answer to an affordable, secure energy system. The Offshore Wind sector deal set a realistic but ambitious target of 30GW; the BESS set a target of 50 GW by 2030, including 5GW of floating offshore wind. The people and the skills needed across industry, government, regulators and NGOs to deliver on this ambition should not be underestimated.
With leasing auctions for offshore windfarms taking place later this year in the Celtic Sea, the annual CfD auction round ongoing and development and construction work continuing for consented projects, our industry has never been so active; against a backdrop of environmental and supply chain challenges.
As OWIC, we continue to actively support the Government’s Green Job Delivery Group, which is leading cross-sector efforts to identify and address shared skills gaps in the UK energy sector. This will ensure coordinated action across industry and support for people across the UK joining our sector, whether they need information and advice about careers, employment support, training to develop technical skills, or access to apprenticeships, further and higher education.
