GWEC and GWO join forces to power the global wind energy workforce

Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) have partnered to ensure that the wind industry creates sufficient levels of skill in safety, technical and other essential training to power wind energy development and meet the huge increase of jobs in the sector required to power the global energy transition.

The two organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding to leverage shared resources, including unique datasets, analytical and forecasting capabilities, which will provide valuable insights to all wind industry stakeholders.

Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council, added: “The wind energy industry has already created 1.2 million jobs worldwide according to IRENA, and this number will continue to grow as demand for wind energy increases with the global energy transition. We want to help the market answer challenging questions about where jobs will be needed most to meet demand, and outline what training will be required to develop a workforce that is knowledgeable and sustainable to, quite literally, build the wind markets of tomorrow. This collaboration is the first step in helping to produce a coherent roadmap for wind energy jobs in the future global energy system, helping emerging markets to benefit from high-quality local job creation to contribute to a thriving green economy”.

Jakob Lau Holst, CEO of Global Wind Organisation, explains: “The GWO Wind Industry Database (WINDA) contains the most comprehensive set of workforce training information in the world. Almost 90,000 people are now trained to GWO standard at centres in 40+ countries. To support demand in new markets, the industry needs insight, forecasting and analysis. Therefore we are working with GWEC, to provide a new and powerful proposition for investors, policymakers, OEMs and other stakeholders”.

The first output of the collaboration will see GWO and GWEC produce a report on job creation and workforce training needs in global offshore wind markets, to be released in Q2 2020.