Looking to provide locals with a leg up in a market seeing national and international growth, the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College have partnered to create a new offshore wind training program. There is still limited space available for the program’s inaugural five-day class, which is set to begin in Georgetown Monday, Jan. 29.

Offshore wind projects are gaining speed, and there is a need for an offshore wind workforce, said the University of Delaware’s Rob Nicholson, who oversaw the entire $1.06 million federal grant paying for the program that was allocated through the Department of Labor.

Participants who complete the program will receive a Global Wind Organization Basic Safety Training certification, which is a basic requirement for anyone interested in working in the growing industry, said Nicholson. Regardless of the outcome of the two offshore wind projects slated for the ocean waters off Delaware, this program’s certification helps satisfy a global precondition, he said.

There are two offshore wind lease areas off Delaware and Maryland. Ørsted is a Danish-based power company pursuing a wind farm due east of Delaware. US Wind is a Baltimore-based power company pursuing a wind farm due east of Ocean City, Md. In late 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the proposal of another offshore wind lease sale for ocean waters farther east than those two areas.

The five-day course covers first aid, manual handling, fire awareness, how to work at heights, working at heights and manual handling at the same time, and sea survival. Typically, said Nicholson, the cost would run students roughly $2,000 for the week-long class, but in this case the grant covers the cost. This grant makes this training an accessible path for those interested in pursuing a career in the offshore wind industry, he said.

The class is conducted by GWO-certified instructors at the Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus in Georgetown. Nicholson said there is still space available for the inaugural class, but it is limited. Interested individuals should contact the program as soon as possible, he said.

For more information, go to crew.udel.edu or contact Dr. Anthony Carmen, the DelTech professor working with Nicholson, at acarmen1@dtcc.edu.