Skills and Training

On the further education front, a considerable amount of activity is ongoing within the area with direct relevance to the particular skills requirements of the wave and tidal energy sector. In Thurso; where there is a very strong legacy of engineering skills arising from the presence within the area over several decades of the Dounreay nuclear power plant and its associated extensive supply chain; the North Highland College (also part of UHI) has recently opened an £8.7m state of the art engineering training facility the Engineering, Technology and Energy Centre (ETEC), which will provide engineering skills at FE and HE levels for the Nuclear De-commissioning, oil & gas and marine renewables industries.

The opening of the new training facility coincides with a £2.3m skills transition programme “ aimed at supporting the skills requirements of the local renewables sector through transition opportunities for the existing nuclear-ficused workforce/supply chain.

Within Orkney, the focus is very much on the region’s maritime capabilities with specialist skills provision being developed to meet the specific needs of the wave and tidal industry, building on the traditional training navigation/boat-handling training opportunities offered by the Maritime Studies Department of Orkney College (in partnership with Shetland’s North Atlantic Fisheries College). The Orkney College also has a specialist unit providing marine archeological surveying services to the marine energy sector.