• Future turbine technicians sought to service state of the art wind farms
• Recruitment of eight new apprentices underway 
• Deployment across UK wind farms

innogy is to pilot a national apprenticeship hub in a bid to help meet the skills-needs of its growing portfolio of state-of-the-art offshore wind farms, and those of the wider UK industry.

The company is now launching a recruitment drive to find prospective candidates to join the apprentice wind turbine technician programme in September, and who will have the chance to go on to work on its most advanced offshore wind projects.

The training hub builds on innogy’s award winning apprenticeship programme at Coleg Llandrillo, part of the Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, in North Wales. The first two years of the apprenticeship programme will be based at the college in North Wales, with a third year of hands-on work experience at Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm, off the coast of Lincolnshire or at Rhyl Flats, off the coast of North Wales (see Apprenticeship Fact File below1).

Richard Sandford, Director of Offshore Investment & Asset Management for innogy Renewables UK, said, 
“We are thrilled to launch this pilot programme. Our extremely successful apprenticeship programme was first launched in 2012 to generate skilled technicians that could meet the needs of Gwynt y Môr. This course has since trained nearly 30 new apprentices producing high quality technicians who have been deployed, both locally and across the UK. This is why we are keen to trial this national hub as the need is clearly now wider than North Wales.”

This year will see innogy recruit eight trainee wind turbine technicians, its biggest intake to date and all due to commence in September.

Richard continued, 
“Last year the Sector Deal committed to delivering training within the renewables sector and I’m pleased that we are able to deliver on this so soon. We are serious about developing a workforce to meet our needs by creating high quality vocational learning opportunities and this hub will do just that.”

The aim of the hub is to fill the gap when innogy builds out and operates its offshore wind pipeline. Successful apprentices will gain an NVQ and have the potential to work on some of the world’s largest wind farms. 

Lawrence Wood Principal, Coleg Llandrillo said,
"Grŵp Llandrillo Menai is delighted to be working in partnership with innogy and to offer these future focussed apprenticeships to our region. innogy have also provided excellent support with development of our new Engineering Campus in Rhyl which is currently in the design phase. This state of the art facility will provide our people in North Wales with the opportunities to develop engineering skills for the future, especially in the renewable sector." 

Nathan Jones who underwent the apprenticeship programme and is now working as a full time technician at Gwynt y Môr said, 
“I’d really recommend people to apply. This course has been life-changing for me. I’ve learnt so much and grown as an individual. It’s not a walk in the park by any means but if you are willing to really knuckle down and able to be away from home for lengthy periods, the end goal is so worth it.” 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an assessment centre (subject to Government guidelines) prior to a final selection being made. Candidates are invited to apply online via jobs.innogy.com. The deadline for applications is Friday 29th May 2020.

KeyFacts Energy: innogy UK country profile