The European Union has committed to reaching at least 42.5% renewables by 2030 - with a 2.5% additional indicative target. This is almost doubling our current capacities in 6 years. This transition will not happen without the right, qualified workforce. Currently, national policies fall short on providing the right incentives for prospective workers to enter the green workforce. Renewable energy workers will need to develop new skills, and be ready to adapt and work with new, emerging technologies. Workers from other sectors will also be required to learn these jobs via upskilling and reskilling. This workforce will need to be mobile across Europe. Therefore, like the energy system overall, skills policy will need to be adaptive, flexible and coordinated at the European level.

RENEWACAD - Case study

Technologies involved: Solar PV and wind
Level of education required: Secondary
Job Roles: Technicians

Description: Solar PV and wind trainings were targeted towards miners  and former miners from Valea Jiului, Transylvania, Romania, and beyond. The project ran from 2012 to 2023. It was designed to:

·       Guarantee a fair energy transition for all
·       Ensure a clean energy future for communities dependent on mining activities
·       Modernise  the economy of regions dependent on coal mining activities

As part of the project, course participants benefited from free professional counselling, free professional reskilling programmes, as well as other courses to develop a set of competitive skills for the labour market.

Results:
·       778 people benefited from support for participation in professional training.
·       777 people were certified following the courses completed within the project.
·       269 people found a job in the renewable energy industry as a result of the support received.
·       70 people attended other training courses at the end of their participation in the project.