While offshore wind is a completely new industry in Vietnam, many roles within this industry can be undertaken by people from other industries. (Photo Courtesy of CIP) That’s the opinion shared by many experts at a recent workshop titled"Career Opportunities in the Offshore Wind Industry" hosted by theCopenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), one of the world's largest offshorewind developers from Denmark, and the School of Electrical and ElectronicEngineering under Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
With reference to the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), which was approved on15th May 2023, Vietnam plans to increase the capacity of offshore wind fromzero at the present to 6GW by 2030 and a vision of 70 - 91.5 GW by 2050 tocontribute to net zero targets established at COP26.
To achieve this goal, developers and contractors need to have an available andappropriately skilled workforce for each phase of renewable energy projects,and with offshore wind, the scale and variety of this workforce has hugepotential.
Stuart Livesey, who presented at the workshop, said: “CIP will need a qualifiedworkforce for our portfolio of future projects. La Gan as an example if builtout to its full 3.5GW capacity, will require over 45,000 FTE employeesthroughout its lifetime (FTE = 1 full time employee for a year). CIP seeks tosupport Vietnam and its people in benefiting from the employment aspects of thehigh-tech offshore wind industry, and also to allow Vietnam to become a majorrenewable energy export hub for the future to APAC and beyond.’’
Throughout the life cycle of an offshore wind farm (about 35-45 years), anumber of positions are needed in all three main phases including Development,Construction & Operation, while some other positions will only be involvedfor one or two phases of the project. The Construction phase has the highestdemand for human resources (accounting for 49% of total jobs created throughoutthe project life cycle), followed by the Operations & Maintenance phase (35%),the Development phase (10%), and the Decommissioning phase (6%).
Among these positions, some are completely new and have never existed in Vietnamyet, such as the positions in charge of analysing wind output, manufacturingmonopile foundations, installing offshore wind turbines, maintaining offshoreturbine blades, and operating & maintaining offshore wind turbines.
While offshore wind is a completely new industry in Vietnam, many roles withinthis industry can be undertaken by people from other industries who can transitionrelatively easily, such as oil and gas exploration and production, nearshoreand onshore wind projects, and onshore construction, which share similarengineering, safety, and working practices. However, this experience is by nomeans a must.
Key training
There are many different certifications or other training requirements that maybe needed to work on offshore wind projects.
Currently in Vietnam, some long-term programmes can already support offshorewind projects of the future, such as Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Oil& Gas, Construction Engineering, Logistics and Supply Chain Management,Maritime Navigation, Mechanical Engineering, Power Management, Ship Control,Ship Machinery, Renewable Energy, Geological engineering, and Environmental engineering.This training can be completed in several Vietnamese universities, including(but not exclusive to) University of Science and Technology, Electric PowerUniversity, University of Civil Engineering and Maritime University.
Alternatively, some short-term programs, including Basic Safety, RescueTraining, Enhanced First Aid, and Basic Technical Training, also providenecessary skills for some technical offshore wind jobs.
Supporting PDP8 goals
Offshore wind power projects bring many socio-economic benefits through jobcreation for Vietnamese people and the development of the local supply chain.
During the early stages of the industry, clear and encouraging policies willhelp investors have the necessary certainty to make long-term commitments anddecide on billions of dollars in investments, while local contractors canproactively plan their production and recruitment activities and theuniversities can proactively update and adjust curriculum to better preparegraduates for the future workplace.
“It usually takes at least six years for an offshore wind project to move fromsurvey licensing to commercial operation,” said Stuart. “Therefore, to achievethe target of 6GW of offshore wind power by 2030 which can contribute torealising Vietnam’s net zero commitment by 2050, it is essential to issue thepilot mechanism for offshore wind development in 2024, and in the meantime,gradually complete the related policies and regulations. We are ready andcommitted to delivering this in Vietnam, and the legacy of studies andpreparation undertaken on the La Gan project means this is ideally placed tofunction as a pilot project under such a fast-track pilot mechanism. Ourwillingness to work transparently with state-owned enterprises and localdevelopers, means CIP can contribute to sharing knowledge and skills with Vietnam’sindustry, and also learning directly more about the needs and nuances todeliver mega-scale power projects in Vietnam."
At the same event, the publication titled "Offshore wind workforce"compiled by CIP was launched in both English and Vietnamese.
The guide provides an overview of the workforce demand throughout theDevelopment, Construction, and Operation phases of an offshore wind farm, alist of typical jobs, and detailed job descriptions of over 70 differentpositions. It also shows the necessary skills and qualifications, and availabletraining programmes in Vietnam that can support entrance in this industry.
Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) today is the world’slargest dedicated fund manager within greenfield renewable energy investmentsand a global leader in offshore wind. The funds managed by CIP focus oninvestments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass andenergy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage,advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X (batteries, ammonia, green hydrogen).
CIP manages 12 funds and has raised approximately US$30 billion for energyinvestments and has established a market-leading renewables pipeline ofapproximately 120GW of energy projects across technologies and geographies.Almost half of this renewable energy portfolio (over 60GW) constitutes offshorewind
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