US-based Jones Act maritime solutions provider Crowley and Denmark-headquartered safety training specialist RelyOn Nutec have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on delivering offshore wind safety training across the US.
Through a newly established consortium, the two companies will develop and administer wind energy training through the creation of Global Wind Organization (GWO) satellite facilities, which will offer certified training standards which align the GWO requirements of wind turbine manufacturers and owners.
Working in cooperation with government and local higher learning institutions, the training will support the safety of mariners and technicians. The partnership will leverage the opportunity for Crowley to use its hands-on experience in the energy sector to augment RelyOn Nutec’s GWO training and eventual training support of crew transfer vessels (CTVs), service offshore vessels (SOVs), and wind installation vessels (WIVs), according to the new partners.
“Having Crowley’s world-leading expertise in offshore operations and supply chain management combined with RelyOn Nutec’s experience in wind training and management systems, expertise and global presence will ensure that this safety-critical training can be delivered in an emerging region with an accelerated growth strategy” , said Jenni Lewis , managing director for RelyOn Nutec’s Gulf of Mexico region.
The US offshore wind sector is expected to boom over the next decade after the country announced its 30 GW offshore wind capacity target for 2030.
This will create 77,000 jobs in the industry, according to the US government, with 44,000 people expected to be employed in offshore wind by 2030, and nearly 33,000 additional jobs being created in communities supported by offshore wind activity.
The 2030 target would also unlock a pathway to deploy 110 GW or more of offshore wind capacity by 2050, which would support a total of 135,000 jobs by that time: 77,000 in offshore wind and 58,000 additional jobs in communities supported by offshore wind activity.