Rumia Invest Park is setting up a Pomeranian Centre for Offshore Energy Competence on the city’s premises, where those wishing to do so will gain the training necessary to work in the offshore industry. The leaders of the offshore wind energy sector, Polenergia Group and Equinor Poland, have just joined the initiative.
The meeting, during which a letter of intent to start cooperation within the Pomeranian Centre for Offshore EnergyCompetence initiative was signed, took place on 19 October in Rumia. The aim of the agreement is to strengthen the labour market which is necessary for an effective development of wind energy in the Baltic Sea. By signing the document, the parties committed to define their activities in various areas of cooperation related to the broadly understood education of children, youth and adults.
In order to prepare an excellent professional workforce for offshore wind energy, it makes sense to arouse interest in the offshore sector from an early age, through play and public awareness building, and then through education with a focus on technical schools. All education, training should also be coordinated from the outset – pointed out Agnieszka Rodak, CEO of Rumia Invest Park. – The Pomeranian Centre for Offshore Energy Competence in Rumia, naturally connected with the maritime economy, with the full acceptance and assistance of the town’s authorities headed by Mayor Michał Pasieczny, fits perfectly into such a role and the needs of Pomerania – she emphasises.
The letter of intent on cooperation was signed by Michał Pasieczny, Mayor of Rumia, Agnieszka Rodak, CEO of the municipal company Rumia Invest Park, Maciej Stryjecki, Head of Offshore Wind Development at Polenergia Group, and Michał Kołodziejczyk, President of the Management Board of Equinor Polska. During the meeting, leaders of the offshore wind energy sector presented at what stage the Baltic I, Baltic II and Baltic III offshore wind projects are.
When developing such projects, people and their competences are one of the most important success factors. The cooperation we are entering into with the Rumia Invest Park company is important in building a workforce base for these projects, which are important from the point of view of Poland’s energy security. This is why we want to support the training of high-class specialists for the offshore wind energy industry emerging in Poland – admitted Michał Kołodziejczyk, CEO of Equinor Polska.
Rumia Invest Park will be one of the key partners of the Academy of Marine Competence, one of the five flagship projects supporting the development of local content in offshore wind farm projects. As part of the Academy of Marine Competence, we will conduct and promote activities aimed at developing competent staff for the new industry sector of offshore wind energy. We invite anyone wishing to develop such education and training initiatives from across the country to work with us. We want to support such projects in terms of content, promotion and organisation – announces Maciej Stryjecki, Director of Offshore Wind Energy Department at Polenergia Group.
The installation of wind farms by Polenergia Group and Equinor Poland is to start in 2025, and the first electricity will be produced just 2 years later. The total capacity of the three projects (OWF Bałtyk I, OWF Bałtyk II and OWF Bałtyk III) will amount to 3 GW, which will allow powering about 2.5 million Polish households. At the same time, the wind farms will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by hundreds of thousands of tonnes and generate at least 10,000 jobs. Thanks to cooperation with sector leaders, Rumia aims, among other goals, to develop an educational programme for young people from Pomeranian schools of secondary and higher education, and then to realise a training ground on the city’s investment land, as well as create a concept for the development of an area intended for the construction of the headquarters of the Pomeranian Centre for Offshore Wind Competence in Rumia.
Renewable energy is key, which we have been repeating for many years, and we are preparing very hard as a local government for the climate and energy transition in Rumia. We have already diagnosed and inventoried all sources of, let’s call it, unclean emissions. We are acting further on this issue, we have a really strong team in the office and the company- emphasised Mayor Michał Pasieczny. – As far as the construction of the Competence Centre is concerned, we want local residents to have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to work in the offshore industry. We know very well how high the wages are there, so we want our residents to be perfectly prepared. Thus, we are cooperating with various entities and entrepreneurs. This is another step in this direction. On our part, we provide full support and mobilisation to carry out these projects together – he concluded.
BalticWind.EU
