EU green energy initiatives are likely to begin suffering in the face of a shortage of skilled contractors and permanent workers to employ, experts warn.
GL Garrad Hassan, a renewable energy consulting firm, recently released its newest market report in which it suggested that green energy projects across the UK and the rest of the EU could be in serious hot water without enough skilled staff, whether they be permanent workers, freelancers, or umbrella company contractors. Wind-generated electricity projects in Europe are already in need of at least 5,500 skilled workers, the consultancy’s report predicted.
While this is bad news, the upside of such a pronounced shortage could mean growth opportunities for any worker with the requisite skills and experience to help construct, maintain, and manage this new technology. GL Garrad Hassan’s chairman, Andrew Garrad, warned that the something must be done especially to encourage growth in the engineering sector, as if this trend contiues by 2030 more than 50 per cent of the new worker shortfall be in the maintenance and operations sectors alone.
Even in the face of this dire news, the renewable energy sector continues to soldier on as best they can in a commitment towards cleaner energy sources that impact the environment less whilst providing lower costs than traditionally-derived fuel and electricity sources such a oil and coal. In fact, Dong Energy recently stated that it will be making a massive £822 million investment into an offshore wind farm near Hull in the immediate future.
