Roles in decarbonised energy will increase from 20% to 65% of all jobs in the offshore energy sector, according to the UK Offshore Energy Workforce Transferability Review by Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen.
Thankfully, the report found that over 90% of the oil and gas workforce have ‘medium to high skills transferability’, and are well positioned to work in adjacent sectors such as wind, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen energy.
“The opportunities for the UK energy supply chain and for jobs are significant, with over £170bn investment to be made in capital and operating activities in the UK offshore energy sector over the next 10 years,” an RGU announcement said.
The review found that about 200,000 skilled people will be required in UK offshore energy in 2030 – 90,000 in wind, 70,000 remaining in oil and gas, and 40,000 in other energy projects and clusters.
The workforce requirements could fall to fewer than 140,000 jobs if the government’s energy ambitions are not fully realised, however. There are currently 160,000 people directly and indirectly employed in UK offshore energy.
The UK and devolved governments should work together with the offshore energy industry and the education sector to ensure the “managed transition of skills and experience in a way that protects and sustains key UK energy jobs”, the RGU report announcement said.
Lead author Professor Paul de Leeuw, director of the Energy Transition Institute at RGU, said: “This review highlights the material prize for the UK. Successful delivery of the UK and the devolved governments’ energy transition ambitions has the opportunity to secure around 200,000 jobs in 2030 for the offshore energy workforce.
“With the overall number of jobs in the UK oil and gas industry projected to decline over time, the degree of transferability of jobs to adjacent energy sectors such as offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen or other industrial sectors will be key to ensuring the UK retains its world class skills and capabilities.”
He added: “With many of the skills and competencies required for the offshore energy sector to be highly interchangeable, the energy transition offers a unique opportunity to create a new world-class ‘net zero’ energy workforce. The workforce transferability model developed as part of the review enables new insights on the workforce implications for a wide range of scenarios, on how to ensure a just and fair transition. The model can also provide real-time insights on future workforce requirements, and the job and transferability impact of specific investments or policy decisions.
“There is a significant role for the higher education sector to play in ensuring the targets set out by governments and industry are achieved, and that the upskilling and reskilling of the workforce is delivered to meet the demands of the changing energy landscape.”
Huge expansion of offshore wind will quadruple capacity by 2030, said Celia Anderson from trade organisation RenewableUK. “That means we’ll need a massive influx of highly-skilled UK workers to build vital new energy infrastructure, as this report shows. Former oil and gas workers offer a wealth of knowledge and experience in this field.
“The offshore wind industry is working closely with the government to ensure the right training and support is in place to harness all the talent and expertise we’ll need in the transition to clean energy. For example, we’re developing an offshore energy passporting system to ensure that all parts of the energy sector recognise transferable skills and training, to enable offshore workers to move seamlessly between renewables and other technologies. This is one of the measures which will help us to increase the number of skilled people working in the sector by attracting a wide, diverse pool of talent of all ages and backgrounds.
“Another important step is for government to ensure that it reaches consenting decisions on major renewable energy projects in a timely manner, so that we can maintain our strong project pipeline in the years ahead. This will help the UK to reach net-zero emissions as fast as possible”.
UK energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the review “rightly recognises the need to support the skills transition” and said the government is committed to working with “all relevant agencies” to develop the full potential of the industry, while Scottish minister for employment Richard Lochhead said: “The Scottish government is wholly committed to ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change, and doing so in a way that is fair for all, ensuring a green recovery and a just transition that supports good green jobs, skills and expertise and leaves no-one behind.
“Ensuring a just transition is critical for the energy sector and I welcome the findings of this review, which recognises that the knowledge and skills of the offshore oil and gas workforce are required for a successful and sustainable energy transition.”
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