Robust growth in new people training and GWO record uploads during H1 2024

In the first half of 2024, 71,047 new people completed a GWO training course worldwide, a 10.8% rise from 64,122 in the first half of 2023. This continued year-over-year growth is slightly lower than the same period in 2023, where the number of people who completed a GWO training course rose by 21.9%.

This trend continues to reflect the ‘odd-year effect’, a phenomenon caused by the establishment of WINDA in 2017 and the influence of the two-year refresher cycle, plus COVID 19 pushing more training into 2021.

Training record uploads grew ahead of people trained, rising 15.3%, from 244,054 in H1 2023 to 281,388 in H1 2024. This aligns with the continuing increase in modules per participant across the network.

By the end of 2023, the GWO Trained Workforce, the total number of participants trained to one or more GWO standard, numbered 168,510 people: a 17% increase from 2022. By the end of H1 2024, the workforce had surpassed 180,000 industry professionals.

For GWO, this overall upward trend demonstrates continued investment in the wind workforce, especially wind turbine technicians, the core target group for training, whose work spans pre-assembly, construction and installation, as well as operations and maintenance.

Ralph Savage, Director of Global Development & Stakeholder Relations at GWO, says: 

“The GWO training network continues to step up and is building capacity in several key regions. However, we remain behind the curve overall on a global level as our forecasts predict considerable demand in the top 20 wind markets worldwide up to and beyond 2027. We intend to support capacity building through strategic partnerships and network development so that every market can access industry standard training. To do this we’ll need to foster new relationships, collaborate with industry associations, governments and policymakers. This is an area where we’ll be ramping up activity very soon.” 

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