East Coast College is partnering with Denmark-based Maersk Training to provide training courses from its Energy Skills Centre in Lowestoft (opened in early November) and its Offshore Wind Skills Centre in Great Yarmouth.

This new partnership looks to benefit the region, with the potential to create new jobs and establish the college as a national centre of training excellence for offshore renewable energy.

Maersk Training (www.maersktraining.com) has invested heavily in the renewable-energy sector and identified East Coast College, situated in a key location for the UK’s renewable industry, as an ideal fit to provide training for the industry.

Michael Prater-Cockayne, Maersk Training’s operations manager, said: “Maersk Training is excited by this opportunity to work with East Coast College to support and develop the industry in the East Coast area.

"The excellent facilities offered by East Coast College lend themselves to creating a ‘state of the art’ training centre to not only enhance available skills development in the region but also to support the community.”

The new Energy Skills Centre, home to the East Coast Energy Training Academy (www.eastcoast.ac.uk), will now be able to offer new offshore and renewable-energy courses to around 1,000 students every year.

Safety and technical training will also be made available, including Global Wind Organisation courses. With an eye on the future, East Coast College has identified further opportunities to expand its portfolio with Maersk Training to include courses on blade repair in its 2020 curriculum.