First wind farm to support green skills gets greenlight

Under the Earlseat Wind Farm Apprenticeship Scheme, onshore wind developer Carbon Free will fund the 125 apprenticeships to the tune of around £1.95 million over the next 25 years. Local education provider Adam Smith College, which has a strong presence in the area, will provide training and salary subsidies for the new apprentices. The scheme will be open to anyone aged 16 and over in postcodes around the wind farm and aims to address the skills shortages in the region at the same time as ensuring local people can secure long-term employment in Scotland’s growing renewable energy industry. 

Renewable energy in the UK is one of the fastest-growing employment sectors, with up to 60,000 new jobs to be created in the wind industry alone by 2020. Fife has a strong engineering base and 20 per cent of the economy is in manufacturing, but 40 per cent of region’s skilled workforce is due to retire in the next few years. 

"The funds that will flow from this wind farm will help build a skilled workforce that, in turn, will attract other employers and investors to Fife building its reputation as a renewables hub," said Dominic Farrugia, director of Carbon Free.

Fife Council officials gave their approval to the wind farm at a meeting today. The original proposal was for a nine-turbine wind farm with a 20.7 megawatt capacity that would have delivered 150 apprenticeships over 25 years. However, today’s approval was granted on the basis that the wind farm, situated on a former opencast coalmine, would eliminate one of the turbines. This means 25 fewer apprentices will get funding over the lifetime of the farm, with around £10,000 being made available per apprentice. 

Those behind the scheme, nevertheless welcomed the planning approval. "The approval gives the greenlight to an apprenticeship scheme that will bring real benefit to Fife and will provide people with the technical skills that Scotland’s renewables industry will need to prosper," Dr Craig Thomson, principal of Adam Smith College, said. 

"The scheme will also add further to Adam Smith College’s capacity to address engineering skills gaps and ensure that employers have the relevant and talented workforce they need. It really is a great example of the public and private sectors working together to help local people benefit from Scotland’s growing renewables industry."

Adam Smith College, the third largest such training provider in Scotland, recently invested in a £17.5 million Future Skills Centre as part of its commitment to Scotland’s renewables and energy sector.

Niall Stewart, ceo Scottish Renewables, added: "Creating jobs, training opportunities and encouraging investment are the kinds of community benefits being delivered across Scotland thanks to renewable energy, and the wind farm project at Earlseat is a great example of that.

"Scotland has one of the most ambitious renewable energy targets and already we are reaping the rewards across the country, especially around former industrial heartlands and remote and rural communities."