News & Updates
Maine Offshore Wind Talent Report Now Available
A new report, Maine Offshore Wind Talent Analysis (PDF), has been released as part of the Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap. This report was developed by BW Research Partnership with significant stakeholder input. It provides an analysis of Maine’s workforce talent resources and applicability to the 117 occupations in the rapidly growing U.S. offshore wind industry.
Key takeaways from the report include:
- Maine has the potential to develop a world-class offshore wind workforce, which can operate regionally, nationally, and internationally.
- Maine’s onshore wind-related workforce is strong, accounting for more than 1300 jobs in 2020 and 10% of Maine’s clean energy workforce and has expertise adaptable to offshore wind with some additional certifications required.
- Maine has most of the talent necessary to build out the estimated 155 MW of floating OSW in the Gulf of Maine by 2030, with some expanded training needs. The state has significant training capacity for wind-specific certifications, and other occupations such as welding, electricians, and manufacturing necessary for offshore wind.
- Maine does not currently have a training facility to provide Global Wind Organization certifications, commonly required by European companies who will be comprising much of the U.S. offshore wind supply chain in the near term.
- Maine’s workforce is also well-positioned to provide services in surveying, permitting, marine monitoring, engineering, and naval architecture in and outside Maine for floating and fixed offshore wind projects.
- Community colleges around the state have historically produced dozens of graduates prepared for manufacturing trades. The state’s recent funding in apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, which will be necessary to fill training gaps alongside partnerships with organized labor, can help foster a workforce for many of the OSW occupations that have the largest estimated workforce gaps.
- Maine has several industries that are well poised to grow and support the increasing number of OSW projects in New England. Sub-state cross-border regional collaboration may be the greatest opportunity to participate in the growing regional OSW developments.