The global energy transition continues to accelerate. Offshore wind capacity is expanding, projects are becoming larger, more technically complex and activity is increasing across new and established markets.
In the UK, a recent Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) report showed that offshore wind accounted for 34% of the country’s renewable electricity production in 2025, which is roughly three times higher than a decade ago. This percentage is only set to rise with 46 fully commissioned offshore wind farms and approximately 2,820 turbines in the UK. Globally, the number of commercial turbines increases to 375,000.
Technology, investment, ambition and policy will only take the energy transition so far. It depends on having enough skilled people to build, operate and maintain it safely.
Across offshore energy, demand for specialist technical skills continues to grow. From wind turbine technicians and rope access specialists to electrical, marine and subsea expertise, projects need people with the right competencies, certifications and practical experience.
For the industry, this creates a dual challenge.
We need to continue developing and upskilling the existing offshore workforce while simultaneously attracting people from outside the sector and creating credible pathways into energy careers.
This is exactly what OEG’s Training Centre in Bootle, Merseyside was built to do. Established in 2013 in response to skills shortages across the offshore and renewables industries, the centre has grown into one of the sector’s most active and respected training providers.
At OEG, we believe addressing that challenge requires the industry to think differently about where its future workforce will come from. Some of the skills we need already exist, they simply exist in other sectors. One of the clearest examples is the Armed Forces.
People leaving military service bring many of the attributes that offshore energy needs. Transferable skills such as technical capability, an uncompromising approach to safety, experience working in challenging environments, teamwork, discipline and the ability to make decisions under pressure all make them assets to the offshore wind industry.
Yet possessing transferable skills and being able to access an offshore energy career are two different things.
Industry-specific qualifications and certifications are essential. Understanding how military experience translates into civilian roles can be difficult. And for someone entering an unfamiliar industry, knowing where to start can itself become a barrier.
That is why effective workforce development needs to go beyond delivering training courses.
It needs to create career pathways. Turning experience into opportunity.
Today, OEG’s Training Centre provides more than 30 independently accredited courses covering areas including rope access, emergency response, technical skills and renewable-sector competencies.
Training combines classroom learning with practical scenarios designed to reflect the environments delegates will encounter offshore and at height, helping people develop not simply a qualification, but operational confidence and readiness.
In 2025 alone, more than 2,600 delegates trained at the centre, achieving more than 6,050 industry-recognised certificates.
But one area of which the centre is particularly proud of is helping former Armed Forces personnel translate their experience into careers in renewable energy.
OEG has developed dedicated military transition routes, including its GWO Pathway into Wind and work with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP). These combine accredited technical training with practical support and guidance to help service leavers understand how their existing capabilities can translate into opportunities within the energy sector.
Through the CTP partnership, eligible veterans can also access fully funded training, helping remove one of the practical barriers to changing career. In 2025, 46 veterans completed the CTP-supported programme.
Several OEG trainers are themselves ex-military, which brings another important dimension to the programme. They understand both sides of the transition, from the experience people bring from military service to the competencies required to succeed offshore.
Training is only valuable if it leads somewhere.
That is why the conversation about the energy skills gap cannot simply be about the number of certificates issued. The real measure is whether we are creating a workforce capable of supporting the industry's long-term growth.
For some delegates, that journey has led directly to a career at OEG.
Take former serviceman Mosese Guyaco who first encountered OEG at a British Forces Resettlement Service careers fair. He subsequently completed wind-industry training at OEG's Training Centre and, just 11 months after first meeting the team, joined OEG full-time in a technician role.
His first deployment took him to Taiwan, where he supported wind farm commissioning operations and has been a valued member of the team ever since.
His journey demonstrates something important for our industry. Ex-service personnel can successfully transition from serving their country to contributing to the UK’s energy transition.
The talent was already there. What was needed was a bridge between one career and another.
OEG now employs more than 1,500 people across 65 global locations, supporting offshore energy projects around the world. Renewables account for 55% of Group revenue, and OEG has contributed to the majority of the world's wind farm developments.
As the business and the wider sector continue to grow, developing the workforce that supports that growth is a responsibility we take seriously.
There will not be one solution to the offshore energy skills challenge. It will require greater investment in training, stronger partnerships between employers and training organisations, continuous development of the existing workforce and more accessible routes for people entering the sector.
It also requires us to recognise potential in people who might not yet see it in themselves.
The energy transition is often discussed in gigawatts, infrastructure and investment. Ultimately, however, projects are delivered by people. If we want to accelerate the transition, developing those people must be treated as part of the infrastructure too.
To learn more about our training centre visit our www.oegtraining.com. If you are looking for a career in the offshore energy sector, make sure to look on our jobs portal website www.careers.oeg.group.