The University of Delaware (UD), in partnership with the Energy and Climate Academy of Denmark, unveiled a new Offshore Wind Skills Academy. The Academy will provide instruction in the basics of wind power, offshore wind turbines, and the development of offshore wind projects to professionals from traditional energy industries, supply chain companies, regulators, investors and others.
The new Offshore Wind Skills Academy will focus on those seeking to build a domestic industry, with education on how wind power works, the logistics of building a wind power project, and the details of planning a wind power installation. There will also be information specific to the US market, including permitting, environmental assessments, and local suppliers and ships, which would be useful for any professionals interested in working here.
The first sessions of the Offshore Wind Skills Academy will be held in January of 2019, with one- and two-day versions of Introduction to Offshore Wind and a three-day Offshore Wind Farm Project Development advanced course. After that round of courses, the Academy will offer classes in May and November each year, adding topics over time. Other courses under development will address topics including engineering, financing and construction planning.
Willett Kempton and John Madsen, professors in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and its Center for Carbon-free Power Integration, have been named the inaugural directors of the Offshore Wind Skills Academy.
