After two decades in offshore wind, I have witnessed first-hand the record-breaking growth of this still relatively new technology. As offshore wind demand and ambitions rise, now is the time to build up the sector’s workforce and share our knowledge so the next generation of offshore wind leaders can carry the torch.

Looking back, at the age of 15, I remember my father queueing for three hours to get one gallon of petrol during the 1973 oil crisis. As a teenager I knew this was not the way things should be. It triggered a desire to work in energy and somehow help sort out the problem.

I took a degree in Energy Management and Technology, and spent the first 15 years of my career in energy conservation – which is now called ‘energy efficiency’. I started work at one of the largest energy companies in the world, BP, moving onto combined heat and power and then into renewables.

After a brief time in solar photovoltaics (PV) and onshore wind, I chose to move into offshore wind. It made a lot of sense that we should seek to mine the mother lode – having the best wind in the world, which is clearly offshore.

Thinking from the perspective of a more traditional natural resource such as oil and gas, if someone discovered a huge deposit of ‘untouched’ resource, you’d have companies jumping at the chance to exploit it.

For me the same logic applied to wind. We found the best wind resources offshore, so it seemed like an easy decision to start putting turbines at sea. However, the technology was still nascent at the time – not to mention expensive. But given the benefits of offshore wind, the additional cost to build seemed to have merit.

That was 20 years ago, and the combination of technology, scale and rapid innovation has fascinated me ever since.

From a niche idea to a mainstream energy source
When I began my journey in offshore wind, it was still a niche sector. But it has now grown to be a material provider of electricity in the countries that have adopted it, and in some cases a mainstream source of energy.

I was lucky enough to be at the forefront of offshore wind development and led the Round 3 programme for The Crown Estate, which manages the UK seabed. At 32 GW, this programme has been the world’s largest seabed award.

Over a period of seven years, I went on to manage the whole programme of UK offshore wind projects. My team solved many industry-level problems and learned numerous lessons along the way, mostly good, but occasionally bad. On reflection, it was the bad lessons that led to the most progress in the industry.

In the early years, offshore wind power was considered expensive – which is normal for any new generation technology. However, it was still a big obstacle for growth of the sector. In 2012, the UK government set the industry a target of reducing the levelised cost of energy to £100/MWh by 2020. Thanks to the dedicated work of developers and turbine manufacturers mostly, the target was met four years early.

This success in the UK was boosted when offshore wind generation costs went on to become lower than the wholesale market price. Further cost reduction now means that offshore wind is far less expensive than gas-fired power and just a quarter of new nuclear. In the most recent contract for difference (CfD) auction in June 2022, offshore wind came in lower than even onshore wind and solar PV.

The story of how the offshore wind sector developed in the UK really paved the way for the industry to become a legitimate choice for a clean energy source, and no longer a ‘pipe dream’. It is thanks to this success and the lessons learnt along that way that offshore wind has rapidly developed into the global industry that it is today.

While the first couple of decades of offshore wind was a purely European venture, there are now offshore wind turbines and new goals arising in the Asia-Pacific, North America, South America and Africa. Thanks to the lessons learnt from the development of offshore wind in the UK and other European markets, these new markets won’t have to go through the same growing pains and can develop their offshore wind sector even faster.

The story of how the offshore wind sector developed in the UK really paved the way for the industry to become a legitimate choice for a clean energy source, and no longer a ‘pipe dream’.

Strategic consultancy
Six years ago, I set up my own strategic consultancy with the focus of taking offshore wind global and imparting what I’ve learnt in establishing the UK offshore wind market. In that time, I have provided advice on setting up offshore wind markets in 38 countries – something that was only a far-off dream when I started working in the sector two decades ago.

The politicians that I’ve spoken to in numerous countries have said that offshore wind is extremely compelling. The combination of large-scale green power generation, near demand centres but not disturbing residents, at an affordable price and creating thousands of jobs, is a ‘win-win-win’.

With pressure to decarbonise as climate moves up the agenda, while the reality of the war in the Ukraine has brought energy security to the forefront, offshore wind has now become a priority for many countries across the globe.

When I reflect on the growth of offshore wind that I have witnessed first-hand, it is amazing to think that since the first offshore wind farm was installed in Denmark in 1991, the industry has broken everyone’s expectations and now has installed 64 GW across the world.

What is even more amazing is that this growth is expected to be exponential over the next few years, with 130 GW expected to be installed between 2023 to 2027 according to the Global Wind Energy Council – essentially doubling the capacity installed in 30 years in just one-sixth of the time.

We have the ambition, but do we have the workforce?
The road ahead for offshore wind is very bright, and radical change to policies and regulations are being put in place. My concern is will we have enough good people to deliver the GWs of offshore wind that are required to meet net zero?

If we are going to have any chance of achieving net zero by 2050, the world will need 554 GW of offshore wind installed in the next decade. To be able to install this capacity we will need 1 million people to join the sector. That is no easy task, and developers and the supply chain are already struggling to find enough skilled staff to meet demand.

While the offshore wind industry is filled with ambitious, smart and talented people, it is simply not enough and this huge skills gap will hamper the growth of the industry. There is clearly a huge need for both attracting more people to work in this industry, and also training these people to build a knowledgeable workforce that can help the world meet net zero goals.

This is especially important in new offshore wind markets that don’t necessarily have the workers yet with offshore wind experience. The question remains – how do we get these skilled people into the sector?

Well, one way I’ve found to be very effective is through online learning. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we work and learn has changed, and more of this is being done remotely and with more flexibility.

I saw a gap in the resources available online to provide offshore wind training, and together with another offshore wind expert, Chris Lloyd, developed an online course. The result is Offshore Wind Learning, a holistic online course to provide students with a solid foundation to prepare for a career in the offshore wind sector. We are proud to partner with leading organisations such as the Energy Institute, which can bring the knowledge contained in this course to people in other energy industries across the world for a just transition.

The more people we bring into this exciting industry is not only good for the growth of the offshore wind sector, but also for the world to help achieve net zero before it’s too late.

The big question is: Are you ready to start your offshore wind journey?

The EI supports the Offshore Wind Learning course as a founding partner and is proud to help accelerate the growth of a skilled offshore wind workforce. You can find out more and book here.