When Rhode Island political leaders, educators and employers consider the future of offshore wind – with lots of big, white turbines spinning in the ocean – most don’t just see environmentally friendly power. They also see jobs.
But just how many jobs, and when they’ll arrive, are still unanswered questions. When Rhode Island officials talk about the job potential for offshore wind, they usually use the word “thousands.”
The Community College of Rhode Island, which is offering a training program for offshore wind jobs this fall, cites a study from the U.S. Department of Energy that says 43,000 jobs will be created in the offshore wind market by 2030, with as many as 3,000 in New England.
Orsted A/S, the Danish energy company with offices in Rhode Island, said its proposed Revolution Wind project will generate 1,200 jobs in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Rhode Islanders believe the state already has a head start when it comes to offshore wind. After all, the nation’s first working wind farm was built off the coast of Block Island in 2016. The state’s location is ideal, and there are already turbine infrastructure facilities in the works at the Port of Providence, Quonset Point in North Kingstown and the East Providence waterfront.
In February, The New York Times ran a story with the headline “New York’s Wind Power Future Is Taking Shape. In Rhode Island.”
The North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce is taking a lead role in preparing young Rhode Islanders to enter the offshore wind workforce. The Chamber created a program called WindWinRI, which it says is the nation’s only high school certificate program in offshore wind energy.
Kristin Urbach, executive director of the Chamber, said WindWinRI began six years ago after the Chamber hosted a symposium on offshore wind.
“We learned there would potentially be a lot of jobs in the pipeline,” she said. “We also learned that the state already had a lot of firsts, such as the Block Island Wind Farm, and the first crew transfer vessels. And North Kingstown is the home of Quonset. So, we were approached by a few people who asked if we’d be interested in workforce development, and we applied for the Real Jobs RI grant.”
The program includes courses in engineering, environmental science, wind science and a tour of the Block Island Wind Farm. There’s also a wind turbine competition, with students making their own turbines and testing them out in wind tunnels.
Urbach said about 32 students have received their certificates since WindwinRI began, with dozens more still moving through the four-year program. Funding comes from Real Jobs RI, a program of the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. The agency says total funding for WindWinRI since it started has been $569,737.
The 2023 turbine competition was held April 29 at the CCRI campus in Warwick. Charles E. Shea High School in Pawtucket and Exeter-West Greenwich Regional High School took top honors.
“The most interesting aspect of this competition for me has been the level of commitment, understanding and how advanced these students are,” said Stacy Tingley, deputy head of marketing strategy, Northeast at Orsted, at this year’s competition.
Current schools participating in WindWinRI are Shea, Exeter-West Greenwich, Block Island, Warwick Area Career & Technical Center, and Central Falls High School.
But there may be many more on the way. The North Kingstown Chamber has received $375,000 in federal funds, through the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., to develop a curriculum for a Career and Technical Education certification in offshore wind energy. Once approved by the R.I. Department of Education, the new CTE program will be available to any school in the state.
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HANGING AROUND: Thomas Loughborough participates in a Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians training session offered through the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce, which is useful for any job that involves working at heights.
PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY[/caption]
The North Kingstown Chamber also offers training for adults, called SPRAT, which stands for Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians. The five-day SPRAT training sessions are held in Bristol and can be useful for any job that involves working at heights.
Urbach says about 90 people will have taken SPRAT training from the Chamber by the end of August.
CCRI is gearing up to offer a training program called Global Wind Organization certification. Funding comes from a $1 million pledge by Orsted and Eversource Energy as part of their Revolution Wind project. Eversource is in the process of exiting offshore wind partnerships with Orsted, but it’s still listed as a partner on the Revolution Wind website.
Developed in Europe, GWO is intended as a standard for wind turbine workers. The basic safety training at CCRI will train participants in first aid, fire awareness, working at heights and survival at sea.
Jennie Johnson, vice president of workforce partnerships at CCRI, said job training is a core mission of the school, which saw the potential in partnering with government, offshore wind developers and labor.
“This should be a great option for young people looking to go into this career,” Johnson said.
CCRI is also building modular classrooms and specialized equipment – including a 30-foot tower for the pool – at the fieldhouse on its Lincoln campus. In early fall, the first cohort of 125 people, divided into classes of between six and 12 each, will begin GWO training.
Philip Swenson, a 39-year-old iron worker for Custom Ironworks in Coventry and a member of Iron Workers Local 37, will be one of the CCRI instructors. Swenson not only worked on the Block Island Wind Farm, he also helped install land-based turbines in Johnston.
Swenson has his own GWO certification and will be taking additional educational training.
“It was amazing work, being out there with international crews,” Swenson said of working on the Block Island Wind Farm. “It was very fun.”
Urbach says wind turbine technician is one of the fastest-growing job categories in the country, with skills easily transferable to other industries.
She added that the North Kingstown Chamber is taking a three-pronged approach to the offshore wind industry. One is youth training, the other is training for adults and a third is encouraging a Rhode Island business supply network to take advantage of turbine infrastructure.
“We’re constantly evolving as a Chamber, and we will continue to provide job training as the market develops,” she said.
