Interview with WP3 members: What are your experiences with the POWER activities on skills development?
Participants: Prof. Dr. Henning Albers (H.A.), Angelika Finkenzeller (A.F.) both from University of Applied Sciences Bremen and Prof. Henry Seiffert (H.S.), Uta Kühne (U.K.) from University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven:
When did it become clear to us, what the crucial project tasks are?
H. A.: At the international project kick-off meeting in Esbjerg we made an excursion to Horns Rev. We saw big towers without nacelles, ships carrying rotor blades and hubs, and we had a frank exchange with the park operator about their experiences with this offshore wind farm. This was the moment that it became clear to us that offshore wind turbines and offshore plants need very specific qualifications and know-how – which is different from onshore turbines.
U. K.: Horns Rev showed us that in offshore wind farms people with academic and vocational background work together in teams. Moreover these teams work together all over the world - there are no national frontiers.
What has become of the first ideas? Which qualification was necessary and what did you do?
U.K. : In the beginning there was only the study “Qualification Needs in the Windpower sector: On- and Offshore” by wab and iaw (2004), mainly dealing with onshore qualification needs. The Esbjerg meeting showed us the need of a special Offshore Study referring to the states bordering the North Sea because the onshore terms and conditions are not one-to-one comparable. The result was the “Qualification Requirements Analysis Study” (see also in the documents section for file WP3_1a). In the process it was helpful, that in each country there was a WP3 volunteer acting as door opener for the interviews with important offshore wind people.
And what were the ideas to qualify the teams?
H. A.: First of all we decided to restructure our work package into a common team work without separation into academic and vocational training. For both target groups an adequate education must be developed. This applies accordingly to the trainees and to the trainers.
Is this concept of a common education for the both target group functioning?
H. S.: The development and the organisation of an “Offshore Summer School” for academic and vocational participants was a brave first step. It was a leap in cold water.
But the results show us that the team co-operation worked very well. In particular during the safety training the interactive assistance between the target groups was brilliant. For this the team training at the beginning of the “Offshore Summer School” and the practical education methods were very valuable.
A. F.: The organisation of the “Offshore Summer School” was a lot of work, which we managed very well in our work package. We made the experience that the target groups are not very mobile, especially from other countries. Therefore it is necessary to think about “mobile teaching” for the trainers.
The exchange during the development and the organisation of the “Offshore Summer School” shows that the work in a group with academic and vocational trainees and trainers works very well. This was our acid test for the realisation of further education modules.
It is the same wind which ought to be used. Do the education structures and concepts fit together?
H. A.: No, they are a bad match. There are countries, which adapt structures to the demand and requirement and others which do not start until they decreed training rules. There are big differences, because for the academic education the Bologna process is nearly finished, whereas the industrial training just started comparable attempts. At this we could take first steps by POWER; nevertheless the process will last for years. We can only hope that we pioneered a bit with our ideas.
