European wind industry to need 200,000 new workers

Over the next six years, the European wind industry will need more than 200,000 new workers, according to WindEurope.

The European wind industry is set to expand from 370,000 jobs today to 600,000 by 2030. WindEurope added education and skills are increasingly becoming decisive factors for the success of Europe’s Clean Industrial Deal.

A serious skills gap is appearing: over the next six years, more than 200,000 new wind workers need to be recruited and trained, the organization pointed out.

According to WindEurope, there are various open questions. “How can the industry attract young people to pursue a career in wind energy? Which job profiles and skills will be required in the industry going forward? How can educational programmes and curricula ensure graduates are sufficiently skilled to fill the more than 200,000 additional positions the industry will create by 2030?” it asked.

WindEurope is involved in a vast number of initiatives to address the issue

The organization noted that the European Union intends to address the issues. The mission statement for the next five years for the European Commission’s new Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness Roxana Mînzatu includes the responsibility to publish the European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training (VET) and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) Education Strategic Plan.

WindEurope said it is involved in a vast number of initiatives to address the critical need to align educational and training systems with the workforce requirements of the green transition.

One of them is the Education Roundtable. At a recent event, the organization brought together representatives from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), European Commission, national wind energy associations, academics, school networks and other education actors to discuss how educational programmes and policies can align with the workforce needs of the green transition.

WindEurope also contributes to UNESCO and EU’s initiatives

The roundtable, part of WindEurope’s Education for Green Transition project, aims to integrate wind energy into curricula and strengthen teaching capacity. Its dual approach integrates top-down initiatives, engaging international organizations such as UNESCO and the European Commission with bottom-up strategies.

WindEurope also contributes to UNESCO and the EU’s initiatives. UNESCO’s global monitoring initiative Greening Education Partnership awards the Green School Label to schools in line with the Green School Standard.

In partnership with the European Commission, WindEurope is further co-developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) module aimed at school principals and municipal-level education professionals.

Informed by pilot projects in Poland, Denmark, and Ireland, the module will compile wind energy education resources developed in collaboration with WindEurope members and showcase examples of industry and education collaboration in the three European country contexts, according to the organization.

Over the past years, the wind industry has taken various initiatives to tackle the coming skills gap, including EU-funded projects like Skillwind and FLORES. WindEurope has also supported reskilling initiatives like the Coal Regions in Transition initiative, which aims to reskill some 8,000 people in the Romanian coal city of Petroșani in the Jiu Valley to start working in wind energy by 2030.