‘Light the flame for the renewable energy generation’ – Dogger Bank boss urges new gov’t

BRITAIN’S new government – created by Thursday’s (July 4) national vote – needs to invest in helping today’s schoolchildren become tomorrow’s renewable energy pioneers.

That’s the challenge laid down by the woman leading the creation of the world’s largest offshore wind farm off the North East coast.

Kama Hajiyeva, who heads the Dogger Bank wind farm project for Norway’s energy company, Equinor, says if Britain is to truly lead the world’s renewable energy sector, the new government needs to act immediately.

Her advice to the nation’s new leaders is to copy a scheme which she and her colleagues have just launched, to inspire and help students in our region become the planners, designers, technicians and engineering visionaries of the energy revolution.

Called the Dogger Bank Community Fund, the scheme will see Equinor invest £25million in school and university students (and community groups) over the life of the wind farm, across the three areas where its key infrastructure is based: South Tyneside, Teesside and the region around Grimsby.

Given that the working life of Dogger Bank is forecast at 35 years, and assuming roughly equal distribution, that breaks down to almost £250,000 for each area, every year for the next three-and-a-half decades.

The idea is to fund projects which inspire youngsters to get into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education, and to offer £5,000 scholarships to secondary school students heading off to study STEM subjects at university.

Ms Hajiyeva’s message to the nation’s new government is simple: “Do what we are doing, but on a bigger scale. We [Equinor] can do quite a lot in the North East – but the government can do it nationally.

“Whether it’s government or developers, we all want the same thing; we all want to do it and we all see this need to act.”

She added: “I think that the whole of the renewables industries are struggling with a skills gap, and we need to close that.

“A lot of skills are transferable, but we need to think about the future and the specific specialist skills we’re going to need – because this [renewable energy] is the future.”

Ms Hajiyeva said that in the evolving renewable global energy market, investment in a British ‘brain boost’ for the future could put the nation in a strong position, both domestically and as a supplier of top talent to the world.

“We’re all, everyone, competing for the same skill-set and the same people, so the question is how do we make it happen?” she said.

“When it comes to the election, I always say that, being in the renewables sector, we are privileged because it doesn’t matter which government comes into power, we always get support, because all governments realise this needs to happen.

“But I think it’s about working together with developers and creating practical qualifications; supporting the supply chain industries and so on: I think the government does recognise this situation.”

Ms Hajiyeva, who has spent 25 years working at the highest levels for Equinor, in oil and gas as well as renewables, said that if nurtured and supported correctly, the UK students of today could become the world’s pioneers tomorrow; pushing technical boundaries and earning big salaries in the process.

Launching the Dogger Bank Community Fund at Boldon School, she and fund manager Kay Doragh sat down to chat to a couple of Year 10 students; Amy Cummings and Sydney Thomas, both 15 and from the Boldon area.

Both agreed that the renewable energy sector seemed “interesting”, but both felt they needed much more information and insight into its workings and the careers it could offer, to know whether it could be the area for them.

“I think it matters, but we just don’t know that much about it,” said Amy.

Sydney agreed, and asked if he would consider working in the renewables sector, said: “Probably, yes.”