LOCAL graduates could score jobs with a major wind farm developer.

Ayrshire College and renewable energy firm, Gamesa Energy UK, have confirmed a partnership that will see the company offer employment opportunities to college graduates and also support a new transitional training scheme for wind turbine technicians in the region.

The college and Gamesa have been in discussions for a number of months over possible models to help the company meet its expanding labour needs in the South of Scotland.

A stakeholder briefing was held on Friday May 6 and was attended by partner bodies such as East Ayrshire Council, Energy Skills Partnership, Skills Development Scotland, the Department of Work and Pensions and Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, alongside local political representatives including MP Alan Brown and East Ayrshire Provost Jim Todd.

The new partnership will also see Gamesa support the college in delivering a new transitional training course for experienced local engineers to retrain as wind turbine technicians. The college is designing the course with input from local partners, and would be supplemented by Gamesa through both a financial and an ‘in kind’ contribution to support candidates.

The company will offer direct candidate support to address any gaps in subsistence funding and will provide access to Gamesa technology, staff and wider resources.

Gamesa has recently employed two graduates of the College’s existing one year, full time turbine technician course and, following these recent discussions, will now offer up to 10 full time roles to suitable candidates from both graduates of the existing course and from the new transitional course.

Gamesa also develops its own wind farms and is currently proposing to develop the 12 turbine

Laura Fleming, UK Director of Development at Gamesa said: “I would like to thank all our partners and stakeholders who attended the meetings at the Kilmarnock Campus last Friday. We have been so impressed with the level of dedication from the college and the other partners to deliver real opportunities for both the current student body and also the wider population of the region.

“Going forward we are keen to develop a partnership that delivers in both the short and long term. Given our immediate need for well trained, specialised wind turbine technicians in the South of Scotland we are keen to provide opportunities for those students currently undertaking the turbine technician course at the College to gain employment with Gamesa. We have been impressed with the quality training provided to the students and have already made a number of full time appointments from those who have completed the course in previous years. We now look forward to increasing this number and will be holding an open day in the coming months to begin the selection process.

“We do not however want to adopt only a short term approach. Gamesa has a growing portfolio in the South West, including plans for a wind farm near Fenwick, which if consented would necessitate an ongoing need for technicians in the area. We believe that through our partnership with the College and in particular the transitional training course, we can achieve a sustainable model to deliver ongoing employment opportunities in the region.”

Stuart Millar, Director of Education Contracts & Business Development Ayrshire College said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Gamesa to deliver employment for our current students, and to create a new transitional training course that will afford local people impacted by the downturn in the Oil and Gas sector in particular, an opportunity to retrain and restart their careers in the renewable sector. Since we made the call for interested candidates to come forward we have received a significant number of high calibre applicants and look forward to working with Gamesa and our other partners to get the course up and running for the start of the new academic year.”

Alan Brown, MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun added: “I was pleased to be able to attend such a positive meeting of the college and Gamesa partnership. This is a fantastic opportunity for learning and jobs, and I am hopeful there will be even more jobs created in the years ahead. “