On 9 th of March, in the Social Integration Club in Rumia a meeting was held within the Pomeranian Offshore Wind Energy Development Platform in the Baltic Sea.
At the invitation of Michał Pasieczny, Mayor of Rumia and Agnieszka Rodak, President of Rumia Invest Park, the meeting was attended by Mieczysław Struk, Marshall of Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Among the invited guests were: representatives of Lębork and Wejherowo districts, representatives of the Department of Economic Development, Education and Sports of the Marshal's Office of Pomeranian Voivodeship, Deputy Rector for Cooperation and Development of the Maritime University, as well as business representatives and leaders of working groups of the Offshore Platform, to whom the issue of offshore wind energy development is crucial.
As part of the Pomeranian Offshore Platform, the work done so far on a Pomeranian Competence Centre for Offshore Renewable Energy (PCK MEO) was presented and the next steps for near future were outlined.
Agnieszka Rodak, President of Rumia Invest Park as well as the initiator of the Competence Centre underlined the fact that the Offshore Platform perfectly combines and enables effective cooperation of both local governments and business. She emphasised that construction of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea constitutes development opportunity for the region both in business and educational terms.
The important issue of future labour marekt for offshore industry was discussed. The offshore sector will employ as many as 70 000 people. These employees must be qualified both at basic technical and higher engineering level. This goal is to be served by the Centre of Competence that is being created in Rumia, as well as by close cooperation of the Platform with universities in Tri-City, e.g. Gdynia Maritime University. The establishment of the PCK MEO in Rumia fits perfectly to this task as a specialist educational and training center of wind energy and the business requirements of the Pomeranian region. The Competence Centre will also serve as a place to coordinate these activities.
In his summary, the Marshal of Pomeranian Voivodeship, Mieczysław Struk, emphasized that offshore wind energy, and more broadly, energy from renewable energy sources, is included in the Pomeranian Voivodeship Development Strategy 2030, where the most important development challenges include increasing environmental and energy security. Mr. Struk acknowledged that the cooperation of vocational and higher education, local governments and local business is right direction in the development of the offshore sector in the region. He expressed his satisfaction that such a dialogue between the parties was taking place and encouraged to expand the group of people and entities interested in the subject of wind farms.
