OPITO Creates Energy Transition Team

Energy safety and skills body OPITO has announced the creation of an energy transition team.

The new team will lead the development of innovative workforce standards, training, and products to support the energy transition and decarbonization agenda, according to OPITO. The organization said it will build on its leading global position in oil and gas to identify opportunities across the renewable energy sector, adding that it will be working in partnership with other industry and accreditation bodies to develop a safe, skilled, and mobile workforce equipped with an “all-energy” skills passport.

OPITO’s new team will be led by the company’s newly appointed head of energy transition, Andy Williamson, who joined the organization back in June. The new team leader has held senior roles in the energy and marine industry to deliver major supply chain and capital project investment. He has previously worked as a senior business development manager at the Port of Blyth, a director of business development at Shepherd Offshore Group and a director of business development at Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.

“The UK is uniquely placed to be a global leader in net zero skills, while addressing the triple challenge of climate change, energy security and affordability of supply,” Williamson said in an OPITO statement.

“Working in collaboration with government and the energy industry globally, OPITO will apply its fifty-year heritage to accelerate the workforce transition at what is arguably a critical time for the climate change agenda and sustainable economic growth,” he added.

OPITO noted that the continued rapid growth of renewables, particularly in offshore wind, and the hydrogen economy will create increased demand for highly skilled people. It highlighted that the International Renewable Energy Agency suggests that 42 million jobs will be created in renewables by 2050, with the number of jobs in offshore wind rising to one million, globally, over the same period.

“The need for better harmonization of training and skills development across the energy sector has been well reported and will become even more important as the energy system further integrates,” Williamson said.

“There is a significant opportunity to transfer expertise across multiple energy sectors which can support the entire energy eco-system, both offshore and onshore, in a just and sustainable way and benefit an all energy workforce for the future,” Williamson went on to say.

OPITO is a global, not for profit, organization that has been setting standards for the oil and gas industry since 1991 to help improve workforce safety and competence, according to its website, which notes that more than 350,000 people per year train to OPITO standards across the globe. The organization states on its site that it is committed to developing a safe, skilled, and mobile global workforce, able to work competently across the energy industry.

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