• The three students will support Operations & Maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind farm
• Four-year training leading to Engineering Technician Level 3
• Combination of hands-on learning at new multi-million-pound O&M base in Harwich and East Coast College

 Three young people from the East coast of England have secured places on a highly sought-after apprenticeship scheme in the offshore wind industry. Their careers will be launched on a high as they commence skilled training programmes which will entail a mixture of hands-on work at the Galloper Offshore Wind Farm Operations & Maintenance Base in Harwich, and academic learning at East Coast College.

Eve Dupuy, age 17 from Brantham, Rosie Underhill age 17 from Harwich and Thomas Bryant, age 21 from East Bergholt fought off tough competition from around 70 applicants to secure places on the apprenticeship scheme, launched this year.

Kieron Drew, acting Galloper Operations & Maintenance Manager said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Eve, Rosie and Thomas on board and we look forward to having them as part of the Galloper team here in Harwich over the coming four years. They did extremely well in the apprenticeship recruitment process, as the competition was tough, given the strong interest in offshore wind industry careers.”

He added: “With the opening of our purpose-built Operations & Maintenance base fast approaching, and our team maintaining fifty-six, 6.3MW turbines with a maximum blade tip height of 180.5 meters, there will be no shortage of things for our apprentices to do and learn about. Many of our sixty-strong team are local and this is an opportunity to share our passion for renewable energy and offshore wind with the next generation of the offshore wind workforce!”

The four-year apprenticeships will conclude in 2023 with the students graduating as Engineering Technicians, Level 3 Standard.

Assistant Principal Rachel Bunn, from east Coast College said: “East Coast College helps young people from our area to get the best possible START. From our new £10 Million Energy Skills Centre opening in October 2019 through to our regional apprenticeship offer, we are investing in helping our local residents and the offshore wind industry to upskill and train the future workforce of tomorrow.”

Galloper Offshore Wind Farm is owned by innogy SE, Siemens Financial Services, Sumitomo Corporation and ESB and a consortium managed by Green Investment Group and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets. innogy led the development and construction of Galloper Offshore Wind Farm and operates the wind farm on behalf of the project partners.