Depth and breadth across the energy workforce
“The North East region benefits from a rich industrial heritage, and a multi-skilled workforce with many transferable skills relevant to the offshore wind industry.” Halfdan Brustad, Vice President for Dogger Bank, Equinor.
A highly skilled talent pool of workers makes North East England a prime location for investors.
Our highly skilled workforce is renowned for its exceptional productivity and loyalty. We employ nearly 57,000 advanced manufacturing workers, with a total of 110,000 employed across the wider manufacturing sector.
North East England is steeped in an engineering tradition with universities and colleges specialising on new innovative engineering practices to equip workers with the skills they need. The region’s five universities are critical partners in the offshore energy sector. They have research and technology expertise in a vast range of relevant fields such as marine engineering, design technology, offshore wind engineering, data analytics, and energy efficiency.
World Class Universities
Over 124,000 students study at our five outstanding universities, with more than 54,000 studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects
Our five universities work hand-in-hand with our energy companies to drive forward cutting-edge sector research. Durham Energy Institute, for example, has a strategic partnership with Orsted, the leading offshore wind developer in the world. It provides academic expertise and access to data and funding in research areas such as renewables generation and carbon capture and storage.
Colleges
Our region’s colleges are leading the way with innovative courses and pioneering facilities to support the sector.
- Newcastle College’s Energy Academy offers qualifications up to degree level in energy technology, manufacturing, maintenance and apprenticeships. The Academy gives apprentices access to the world’s most advanced Immersive Hybrid Reality (iHR) offshore wind training facility.
- Northumberland Welding and Fabrication training centre is located at the Port of Blyth, the centre will equip students leaving school with the skills they need to kickstart their career in advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction, marine and clean energy sectors. Welding short courses for adults, bespoke packages for employers looking to upskill workforce and apprenticeship training programmes are also available. www.northumberlandskills/welding
- South Shields Marine School is an OPITO approved training centre, has a worldwide reputation for outstanding maritime training.
Private sector training
This training excellence is enhanced by a number of world-renowned private sector training providers in the region. Providers include:
- Port Training Services (PTS) – Is the training division of the Port of Blyth and provides first-class training to companies and individuals operating in offshore energy and renewables, port and marine sectors. As part of its offer – a first for the UK wind industry – the facility features a modified, former operational wind turbine for practical training alongside a dedicated training centre with modern classrooms and facilities. The turbine features a duplicate nacelle unit designed for safe training at height with the original nacelle located at ground level for technical training.
- Maersk Training – Maersk Training A/S provides training services to maritime and offshore energy production industries worldwide. The company offers maritime, oil and gas, wind, and crane operations training services. It also provides training services in the areas of survival, safety and security, people skills, and human resource
- 3t Training services – 3t delivers world-class specialist training for the offshore oil & gas, wind energy and industrial sectors. From our state-of-the-art industrial training facilities throughout the UK, 3t offer a comprehensive portfolio of mandatory and optional skills, competency and safety courses endorsed by the world’s leading trade associations.
- TDR Training and Apprenticeships – TDR’s mission is to deliver the highest quality, customer-focused training and development experiences. TDR offer training and apprenticeships for the offshore energy industry in engineering and manufacturing, including fabrication and welding.
Energy Central Campus is a new flagship facility to further strengthen the areas leading role in driving the clean energy revolution with state of the art industrial training, education and STEM related skills facilities. The hub will include major conferencing capabilities, events space, clean energy visitor centre and a lecture theatre to encourage collaboration between employers, education institutions and research facilities. Located at South Harbour, Port of Blyth. Opening 2024.
