MBO College Airport

ROC Amsterdam – Flevoland and wind energy sector join forces to tackle sustainability challenges

MBO College Airport, a vocational education training centre that is part of the ROC Amsterdam–Flevoland college, has started a new cooperation and investment in infrastructure with various parties from the wind energy sector, including Vattenfall, Siemens Gamesa, Redak and Iver. The goal is to establish a hybrid educational concept for this promising and growing sector while enhancing students’ chances in the labour market.

In May 2022, Dutch Climate and Energy Minister Rob Jetten announced that millions of euros were being made available to accelerate the energy transition and achieve climate goals. The government has also pledged to significantly expand wind energy at sea. ROC Amsterdam-Flevoland sees opportunities to link these developments to improve the future perspectives for its technology students and in doing so contribute to a more sustainable Europe.

How? Organisers of the Aircraft Maintenance training course at MBO College Airport started thinking about alternatives for their students when the pandemic led to the aviation sector being temporarily locked down. There are quite a few similarities in competencies between maintaining an aircraft and a wind turbine. This means that there are not a great many differences between what maintenance technicians should know and be able to do in order to safely maintain both aircraft and turbines. Students can supplement their Aircraft Maintenance training with an elective course in Wind Turbine Maintenance and significantly enhance their career opportunities in the process. Students in other technology courses will also be able to benefit from this development.

Investments in wind turbine simulator
MBO College Airport has purchased a state-of-the-art wind turbine simulator to help teach students and develop their technical skills in a context-rich environment. In addition, Vattenfall is donating two rotor blades to MBO College Airport for educational purposes. These are not only intended for the Aircraft Maintenance students who are taking the elective Wind Turbine Maintenance course – they can also be used by Drone Engineering & Operations students to experiment on repairing rotor blades with a drone.

Dealing with shortages
ROC Amsterdam-Flevoland and the energy sector are positive about joining forces to resolve the major social challenges related to sustainability. The college aims to address the huge demand for technical staff now as there is already a shortage in the Netherlands. By introducing technology students to the promising energy sector during their training, ROC Amsterdam-Flevoland hopes to contribute to the energy transition in line with the college’s own sustainability strategy.