Shortage of Irish ocean energy graduates could lead to overseas job opportunities
A review of the third-level education needs of Ireland’s embryonic but fast-evolving ocean energy industry concludes that unless more young people are encouraged to study ocean energy, many of the thousands of new jobs forecast for when the technology scales up during the 2020s, will have to be filled by overseas graduates.
Released as a discussion paper by the Marine Renewable Industry Association (MRIA) – the all-island representative body for the wave and tidal sector – the review claims that ocean energy has the potential to make a significant employment and wealth creation impact within a decade.
‘The industry wants action to ensure a flow of people with robust degrees in traditional engineering disciplines with an add-on of an ocean energy module or a full degree at Master’s level in ocean energy skills such as modelling, basic oceanography, etc.’
Multi-billion Euro industry
Quoting SQW Consultants, the MRIA puts into perspective the potential of ocean energy, stating that evidence suggests that by 2030, a fully developed all-island OE sector could be producing around €9bn in value and creating many thousands of jobs by 2030.
It is possible that an island of Ireland wave energy industry […] could produce at least 1,431 additional jobs and an NPV of €0.25bn, increasing to 17,000-52,000 jobs and an NPV of around €4-10bn by 2030. Similarly a tidal industry providing 200MW of capacity by 2020 may deliver around 600 FTE jobs and an NPV of €111m, increasing to 8,500-17,000 jobs and an NPV of between 41.5-2.75bn by 2030.’
Examining the current education picture across the island, the review notes that 
each of the seven universities in the Republic and the two in Northern Ireland has significant modules in engineering and science.
It notes also that all bar one of the fourteen Institutes of Technology in the Republic offer engineering degrees, with eleven offering degrees in civil engineering. The Colleges have 29,000 full-time students – a third of whom are enrolled in technical subjects.
‘Ideally, in the ocean energy arena, there should be a common offering with components drawn from the individual colleges based on their expertise. Moreover, industry needs action to crack the conundrum of offshore experience: how are engineers and others to achieve real offshore experience prior to entering ocean energy?’
Findings
On foot of this review the MRIA states that it will:
- enter into dialogue with third-level and expert bodies such as Forfas and others so that its (evolving) needs are taken into account in planning and policy fora, e.g. the need to increase the supply of electrical engineers
- seek to influence the academic community to provide a world-class common ocean energy Master’s module or, better still, a full Masters, designed in cooperation with the industry and ideally made available for delivery by virtual means
- explore ways of dealing with the ‘offshore experience’ issue in conjunction with the Marine Institute and the National Maritime College of Ireland
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Principal findings of the MRIA review:
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