Deal for upskilling of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy sector’s workforce
Over the next 6 years 3,000 trainees will undergo capability building programme that aims to support the Kingdom’s ambition of increasing renewable energy production in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a part of Vision 2030
Maersk Training on Sunday, 5th December 2021, formed a collaboration with Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic to create a technical training programme that will aid Saudi Arabia’s future workforce in the renewable energy sector. The agreement to create the Kingdom’s first-of-its-kind workforce development programme was signed between Vijay Rangachari, Regional Managing Director, Eastern Hemisphere, Maersk Training and Dr. Khalid Al Somaili Managing Director, Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic in the presence of dignitaries at the Danish Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched a strategic initiative called ‘The National Renewable Energy Program’ (NREP) as a part of Vision 2030 which aims to increase the Kingdom’s share of renewable energy production, achieve a balance in the mix of local energy sources, and fulfil the Kingdom’s obligations towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Through the programme, the Ministry of Energy in Saudi Arabia is working to diversify the national energy mix used in electricity production, increasing the share of natural gas and renewable energy sources to approximately 50% by 2030 while reducing the use of liquid fuel.
The expansion of renewable energy in the Kingdom presents the need to upskill the workforce of the future. Maersk Training, with its extensive expertise in training organisations, crew and individuals in the Oil & Gas, Maritime and Wind industry and building competencies, therefore entered into a collaboration with Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic (SESP) to achieve the required workforce capability development for renewable energy sector in the Kingdom.
Dr. Khalid Al Somaili stated, “SESP is pleased to sign this agreement which presents an opportunity for Maersk Training and SESP to jointly support the Renewable Energy industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with supporting the workforce capability development in line with the Kingdom vision 2030.”
“At Maersk Training, our focus has been on enhancing safety and driving performance through capability and competency building. We are delighted to collaborate with SESP and play a role in developing the building blocks of Saudi Arabia’s diversified energy mix of tomorrow”, said Vijay Rangachari.
Further David Skov, CEO of Maersk Training said , “A.P. Moller – Maersk lays great importance in decarbonisation as a part of its sustainability strategy and we are happy to contribute in developing a workforce that will enable reduction of emissions from other sectors too.”
The collaboration between Maersk Training and Saudi Electric Services Polytechnic will lead to the creation of multiple long term training modules as per industry needs (ranging from 6 months to potentially 18 months) and will run over at least the next six years. The programme expects to train a workforce of more than 3,000 trainees in the coming years to upskill them to enter into the wind renewable industry.
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