Workforce Assessment

NREL's experts are evaluating potential wind energy workforce gaps and opportunities to fill them to meet the country's growing energy demands.

To better understand what the wind energy industry—and its workforce—may need to support U.S. energy growth, NREL researchers are working with industry partners to evaluate potential workforce gaps and opportunities.

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office, NREL published an initial report on their investigations in 2021. To reach the 30 GW of energy capacity, the authors found the offshore wind energy industry would need to employ more than 44,000 workers and nearly 33,000 more supporters in communities.

These high-level estimates provide a general baseline. But more precise details—such as which sectors, including manufacturing and installation, could see the highest job growth or what training programs are needed to prepare workers for these jobs—can help industry and governments plan to support this workforce growth.

To follow up on that initial report, NREL conducted a nationwide study to examine how many workers and what kinds of jobs the workforce might need to meet the 30-GW target. Although several states have conducted their own state-specific workforce evaluations, no national-level evaluation existed until NREL's.

Research Activities

For the assessment, the NREL team conducted a deeper analysis for all segments of the offshore wind energy industry to provide a more nuanced, precise estimate of the range of potential workforce needs between 2024 and 2030 (based on scenarios with 25% and 100% domestic content). The team collected data to better understand potential job roles and requirements, workforce training programs, and opportunities to increase recruiting or help workers transfer from similar fields in other industries.

The team collected its data from several sources, including:

• The annual market assessment, in which NREL researchers evaluate and share information on the U.S. offshore wind energy pipeline and a 2022 report in which NREL authors provide data about demand for specific components (such as wind turbines, foundations, vessels, and cables)
  
  
• Feedback from quarterly stakeholder meetings, convened through the Offshore Wind Workforce Network, which included 150 representatives across several universities, industry groups, companies, unions, community colleges, original equipment manufacturers, maritime academies, and federal and state governments
  
  
• Reviews of job postings and publications to compile details of job roles and requirements
  
  
• Systematic outreach conducted with current education and training programs as well as online searches for additional developmental programs.

To validate the maritime construction workforce, the team also conducted interviews with plant developers, union leaders, maritime and offshore safety trainers, educators, energy personnel and logistics experts, and vessel operators.

Needs for Workforce Growth

The results of the evaluation, published in October 2022, indicate that, among other findings and advice to meet workforce demand, the industry could:

• Employ an average between 15,000 and 58,000 full-time workers every year between 2024 to 2030 (based on 25% and 100% domestic content scenarios)
  
  
• Attract and train skilled tradespeople who represent the largest pool of potential offshore workers, including from similar fields, such as oil and gas
  
  
• Prioritize recruiting initiatives to involve all populations
  
  
• Ensure coordination and collaboration between industry stakeholders and global, national, regional, and state partners on major workforce challenges.

Future Work

The NREL team continues to meet with stakeholders to discuss other potential topics to explore, such as:

• The geographic dispersion of job growth across the United States
• How regional approaches and collaborations could influence the workforce
• When jobs might be added to which sectors.

The team also continues to spread awareness about this potential workforce growth to members of the public.

Additionally, the team is tracking how the workforce and industry actually develop over time to estimate impacts on workforce growth.

Publications

U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Workforce Assessment, NREL Technical Report (2022)

Offshore Wind Workforce Safety Standards & Training Resource, U.S. Department of Energy WINDExchange Resource (2023)

Offshore Wind Energy Workforce Development Best Practices Resource, U.S. Department of Energy WINDExchange Resource (2023)

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