Meeting the challenges of the energy revolution
Renewable energies increase energy autonomy while at the same time reducing the carbon footprint and energy costs for consumers. They are essential for sustainable development and a low-carbon economy.
The future energy landscape will be dominated by renewable energies and characterised by digitalisation, decentralisation and decarbonisation. To realise their full potential, renewables must be seamlessly integrated into the electricity grid and energy storage must be efficient.
Technological advances make it easier to use alternatives to fossil fuels, increase energy efficiency and offset difficulties such as power source availability, power quality issues and costs. However, success in this fast-growing sector is largely dependent on having a skilled and qualified workforce. It is also the key to success in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reliable and affordable access to clean energy.
Education and training to address the shortage of skilled workers in the renewable energy sector
The number of kilowatt hours generated by clean energy sources is increasing and the transition to renewable energy is leading to a global shift in energy production jobs, changing skills requirements and creating new employment opportunities that support and expand the green economy. The workers of today and tomorrow must have the knowledge and skills needed to integrate new energy opportunities into professional decision-making and problem solving tasks.
However, keeping up with the rapidly changing energy industry is a challenge for today's educators, since they need to integrate renewable energy generation into training programs, especially in technical education. This challenge explains why there is a gap between what the education system delivers and what industry demands, and why the curriculum is not evolving as fast as renewable energy.
To support the growth of the industry and address the skills shortage in the renewable energy sector, schools need to attract and retain a steady supply of future workers and current workers need to retrain or upskill to adapt their competencies to renewable energy generation. The quality and quantity of human resources must match demand to ensure that qualified, environmentally aware students are adequately trained to contribute to sustainable development in their current and future professions.
Develop skills in key competency areas
The renewable energy sector offers a wide range of technical job profiles and training programs, from planning, installation, operation and maintenance to monitoring, optimisation, and modernisation and troubleshooting of a variety of electrical energy systems.
Thanks to our many years of experience in electrotechnical training, we are able to offer a range of modern and flexible training solutions that enable you to develop and expand the practical expertise of operators, technicians and engineers in the following areas:
Renewable energy technologies
Clean energy is obtained from various natural resources and is used more and more efficiently today thanks to technological progress. However, these technological advances require a growing number of people with in-depth knowledge of the main production principles of solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, solar thermal energy, geothermal energy, heat pumps, fuel cells, hydrogen and others. Only specialists can select the appropriate technology for each application scenario and plan the associated energy system.
Electrical installations
Renewable energy systems are cabled and wired like any other electrical system. That means skilled workers are needed to install, commission and troubleshoot energy generation systems, as well as to integrate them into building systems or connect them to the power grid. This work requires basic knowledge of electrical engineering and electrical safety.
Electric motors and generators
Electric machines are indispensable for producing green energy. Motors are used for many energy systems, for instance to align solar panels with the sun during the day or to operate pumps in cooling systems for energy generation. And turbines and generators convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Technicians must therefore have a sound knowledge of electrical machines and their optimal use in energy generation scenarios.
Power electronics
Power electronics enables the conversion and control of electrical energy and improves the efficiency of renewable energies and electrical systems. Semiconductor components are integrated in power electronic devices that are used as switching equipment in industrial applications. They are used extensively in the generation, transmission, distribution and use of electrical energy. Power electronics also regulate the mains voltage and current and form the interface between renewable energy systems and the grid, thus playing a crucial role in the introduction of smart grids. Electric vehicles make extensive use of this technology to process and control the flow of electricity as well as motor speed and torque.
Important topics: Converters. Inverters. Control devices. Thyristors. Rectifiers. Power sources. Distributed power generation. HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current). SVCs (Static VAR Compensators).
Energy storage
Renewable energy sources do not always ensure continuous and predictable energy production, which is why energy storage is an essential part of renewable energy production. Energy storage facilitates the optimal use of renewable energies by balancing supply and demand. Rechargeable batteries, pumped storage power plants or thermal electricity storage as well as compressed air and hydrogen storage are among the rapidly developing technologies in this field that remove barriers to the use of renewable energies and enable energy to be stored on a small and large scale.
Grid integration and infrastructure
For renewable energy generation to be used to the full, current electricity grids need to be modernised. A higher degree of geographical decentralisation and seamless integration of individual production sites into the network architecture are required to make the most of natural resources. The modernisation of the grids also includes the integration of advanced communication, control and sensor technology to enable two-way communication between generators and consumers. The benefits of smarter grids include increased reliability, efficiency and resilience, as well as improved security and sustainability.
Important topics: Microgrids. Smart grid technologies. Distributed architecture and control. Transmission and distribution.
Energy efficiency
The key to a low-carbon world lies in combining increased energy efficiency and clean energy production. Workers must be attentive and responsive to every opportunity to conserve and optimise energy throughout the entire cycle of energy generation, transmission, distribution and use. Energy audits, measurements, waste reduction monitoring and energy saving are essential for achieving energy efficiency. New digital and energy storage technologies are also extremely important in order to reach these goals.
Main topics: Energy-efficient buildings, processes, vehicles. Storing electrical, mechanical and thermal energy. Retrofitting. Power electronics. Power measurement. Demand management. Controlling energy systems and infrastructures. Energy management.
Process automation
Automation, instrumentation and control are critical components of renewable energy generation, since they ensure maximum safety, quality, reliability and efficiency. And renewable energy can be used for those processes that create the products needed for clean energy, such as green hydrogen, green ammonia and battery fluids.
Important topics: Energy management. Heat exchangers. Process control of flow rate, level, pressure, temperature, airflow, pH and conductivity. Sensors, transducers, valves, thermocouples, etc., communication protocols and networks. Distributed monitoring systems. SCADA. Intelligent technology. Measurement and data recording. Control strategies. PLCs. HMIs. Drives. Pumps. And many more.