State launches offshore wind training school
The State University of New York and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority launched New York’s Offshore Wind Training Institute to train 2,500 workers.
The initiative is part of the largest public investment in offshore wind workforce development by any state in the U.S., according to a joint statement from NYSERDA and SUNY.
Administered by Farmingdale State College and Stony Brook University in partnership with NYSERDA, the $20 million investment in the state’s new training institute will advance offshore wind training programs and educational infrastructure needed to establish a skilled workforce that can support the emerging national offshore wind industry.
Initially, $3 million dollars is being made available to support educational and training organizations focusing on early training and skills development, including pre-apprenticeship training, for disadvantaged communities and workforce training initiatives that build partnerships between businesses, labor, workforce development and training institutions to support local supply chains and manufacturing in New York State.
Selected training institutions will aim to begin training workers shortly after the awards which are expected in the summer of 2021.
The OWTI will also collaborate with the newly established National Offshore Wind Training Center, for which Suffolk County Community College serves as the academic anchor arm through a $10 million partnership with the Sunrise Wind Project, a joint venture of Ørsted A/S and Eversource Energy.
