WindEnergy as a point of contact for industry, skilled specialist workers and students

WindEnergy - International Trade Fair
at the Hamburg Fair site from 11 to 14 Mai 2004

Hamburg, 16 April 2004 - There is practically no industry that is creating as many jobs as the wind industry today and in the coming years. The European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) is expecting a total of up to 184 000 wind energy jobs in Europe by 2010, and 318 000 by 2020. That is on the assumption that there will be planned expansion of renewables to 20% of total power supply by 2020. The WindEnergy 2004 International Trade Fair in Hamburg from 11 to 14 May gives skilled specialists, students and school leavers a chance to visit potential employers at their fair stands, and to get information on vocational and career opportunities in this industry. There will be more than 300 international exhibitors altogether, presenting their innovations, products and services at the fair.

In Germany alone, there are currently more than 45 000 people employed in the wind industry. That includes 37 000 jobs directly and indirectly in the wind industry itself and 8000 in operating and maintenance, according to reports by the VDMA (German Engineering Federation). Thorsten Herdan, Managing Director of VDMA Power Systems, notes that the strong growth in the industry this year once more offers good professional opportunities for technicians and also for career entrants – “As the wind industry expands onshore and offshore, with increasing export orientation and tougher requirements set by banks and financiers, there is also a rise in the requirements for qualification of human resources. The industry is therefore calling for specialist initial and further training programmes that are individually tailored to its needs.”

The specific initial and further training needs of the industry have been determined in an extensive study made by the Windenergie-Agentur Bremerhaven/Bremen e.V. (wab), which will be presented at WindEnergy. The members of wab (Hall 7) will be talking about training courses for technicians and engineers in a series of lectures from 10am to 1pm on 13 May. That includes among other things offshore safety training and training for electronics engineers (technical operations) specialising in wind turbine systems. “This three-year course leads to qualification as a Wind Energy Engineer, and is the first recognised vocational training for electronics engineers that is specifically designed for the wind industry”, explains Babette Dunker, Qualification Project Manager at wab.

More and more universities are also offering “wind-specific” additional modules, in line with the rising requirements of the industry. Germany’s first wind energy faculty was set up in Stuttgart at the beginning of 2004 – Martin Kühn, who is the new professor there, has an industrial background and was previously project manager for offshore development at GE Wind Energy (Salzbergen). Other academic presentations at WindEnergy include the University of Bremerhaven, which will present its course on Maritime Technologies. The “ForWind” wind energy research group of the Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg will provide information at its stand on the internationally designed one-year course of study on “Renewable Energies” (likewise in Hall 7).

The manufacturers are also taking a close interest in the training. “We are always interested in new people, particularly on the engineering side”, says Ralf Peters, Head of Public Relations at Nordex AG, Hamburg. “For example we are currently looking for measurement technology engineers and grid connection specialists”. Nordex (Hall 7) has been running the Nordex Service Academy in Rostock since May 2002, to train their own employees and the staff of companies working in cooperation with them. “Last year we had as many as 785 skilled workers undergoing training, 205 of these being people from our customers and cooperation partners”, added Peters. Dewind GmbH (Hall 6) in Lübeck is also interested in recruiting qualified people: “We conduct further training in close cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Berufsbildung mbH Hecodat in Lübeck. We are providing local training for our new sites in the Czech Republic and the UK”, explains Dr. Walter Delabar, Head of Public Relations. “The wind sector of GE Energy (Hall 4) will likewise be presenting its new European customer and training centre, which runs specialist seminars for customers and employees, covering various areas of wind energy converter technology”, says Andreas Wagner, Press Spokesman of GE Energy.

The industry is also looking for school leavers to meet its substantial demand for human resources – the “Think Ing” campaign, that is the educational initiative of the WindEnergy partner VDMA, is designed to give school students at the trade fair an impression of the vocational field of the engineer, by means of personal meetings. On each of the two days 11 and 13 May, 100 school students from North Germany will be accompanied by students of the Technical University of Harburg on visits to exhibitors, and hear from them about the vocational fields that the wind industry has to offer.

The WindEnergy 2004 – International Trade Fair (11 to 14 May) is a global platform for manufacturers and component suppliers, planners, financing institutes, measurement and certification agencies and specialists from research and development, to help them continue the expansion of this market of the future. Opening times are from 9am to 6pm, with extended opening up to 8pm on the Thursday. Admission charges (incl. catalogue) for on-line/at-the-gate registration: 4-day ticket €33/€48; 2-day ticket €28/€38; day ticket €23/€30.50; school & university students and trainees €8/€13. The official international partners of WindEnergy are EWEA, VDMA and DEWI, and AWEA and InWEA. Further information is available at the website www.windenergy-hamburg.de