Enabling Offshore Wind: Addressing Skills Needs in Automated Welding

Offshore wind power is a cornerstone of the UK’s strategy to achieve energy security and meet CO2 reduction targets, with a goal of generating 43-50GW from offshore wind by 2030. As the demand for offshore wind energy grows, so does the need for advanced production methods, such as automated welding of flotation structures. This technology is essential for building the floating foundations that support offshore wind turbines.

However, the successful implementation of automated welding technology hinges on having a skilled workforce capable of designing, developing, and operating these advanced systems. The current shortage of welders in the UK, exacerbated by an aging workforce and increasing demand from both the offshore wind and nuclear sectors, underscores the urgency of addressing this skills gap.

In response to this challenge, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult was sponsored by RenewableUK to complete an interim report, working with the Workforce Foresighting Hub in relation to a foresighting cycle focused on “Automated Welding of Offshore Wind Flotation Structures.”

This Workforce Foresighting Hub is an initiative, funded by Innovate UK and deployed through the Innovate UK Catapult Network. It aims to identify and explain the gaps between workforce, capability and technology that may limit the adoption of future emerging technologies.

Interim Report Findings

The interim report, sponsored by RenewableUK and convened by (ORE) Catapult, outlines the findings from the ‘carrying-out’ phase of the study. The study involved collaboration with several key industry stakeholders, including Marine Power Systems, Global Energy, The Welding Institute (TWI), and others.

The workforce foresighting workshops and surveys identified 124 relevant capabilities, with 96 already existing in the UK IfATE standards and 28 newly defined by the study. These capabilities are grouped into fifteen future occupational profiles (FOPs) across three main areas of practice:

• Design offshore wind structures to enable and support automated welding.
• Develop the automation and welding technology.
• Implement and operate automated welding technology during production.

Next Steps

In the next phase of the foresighting cycle, ORE Catapult will work with stakeholders to identify and initiate actions to close the potential future skills gaps identified through foresighting, considering the volume of likely roles determined by forecasting.

Moving into the “Causing Action” phase of the foresighting cycle, the ORE Catapult Future Skills team will:

1. Incorporate feedback from industrial participants and other reviewers of the future occupational profiles and capability sets.
2. Support ORE Catapult and The Welding Institute in the EPSRC funding application “Advanced Automated Welding for Wind Energy,” providing input on skills development and role impacts (completed).
3. Develop forecasts that help to understand component volumes and the expected role numbers.
4. Work with further and higher education partners, as well as industry training organisations, to identify potential course module content – based on foresighting and forecasting.
5. Identify a champion for development of automated welding skills for the offshore wind sector.
6. Evaluate the opportunity for further foresighting studies in floating offshore wind structures.

For more information, please refer to the full report available through the Workforce Foresighting Hub.