NESSIE lets visitors experience during the New Energy Forum how important professionals are for the energy transition.
How do you ensure that the energy transition does not stall due to a shortage of skilled workers? During the New Energy Forum, it was shown NESSIE, one of our Interreg TECHNOLOGYen, visitors experience this for themselves in an interactive simulation. Participants stepped into the role of policymaker, educator, installer, or government official and discovered how joint choices are decisive for the success of the energy transition.
Can Ameland make the energy transition a reality?
The simulation took place on Ameland, where 600 homes need to be equipped with battery storage systems. The technology is available, but finding enough qualified people to carry out the work proves to be at least as big a challenge.
Using their phones, participants selected one of five roles: Municipality of Ameland, Province of Fryslân, training institute FIRDA, installation company Oud, or Learning Hub Friesland. Each role was presented with different policy and investment choices. The joint decisions determined how the project developed in real time.
The session was facilitated by experts from education, government, research, and practice, who explained the different perspectives and deepened the discussion.
Working together makes the difference
The simulation made it clear that success did not depend on a single decision, but on the interplay between all choices. Only when the different choices reinforced each other – a local training center, practice-oriented courses, internships with installers, a regional learning framework with appropriate funding, and active recruitment of new participants – the island came close to the objective within the available project period. Other combinations showed how delays can occur when one or more parts are missing.
A challenge that goes beyond Ameland
With the simulation, made NESSIE It is evident that the energy transition is not only a technical challenge, but above all a human one. The case of Ameland symbolizes an issue affecting the entire North Sea region: how do we ensure that there are enough well-trained professionals available to carry out the energy transition?
That is precisely why NESSIE is working on solutions that better connect education, business, and government, such as local learning centers, practice-oriented training programs, internships, and targeted recruitment of new talent..