A new pilot partnership between colleges in Lowestoft and Amsterdam is upskilling students for careers in the fast-growing offshore wind industry.

East Coast College (ECC) hosted 10 Dutch students as part of a skills exchange at its £11.7 million Energy Skills Centre in Lowestoft for the past two weeks.

It saw industry leaders Hexis carry out training on its specialist offshore training equipment to launch this new relationship.

Soon Norfolk and Suffolk engineering students will head to Amsterdam to learn specialised repair techniques on giant wind turbine blades that they can’t access locally.

The partnership was brokered by energy giant Vattenfall, who are building the world’s biggest wind farms off Norfolk’s coast to power more than four million UK homes, so more young people can join the escalating industry.

Eastern Daily Press: Students from the Amsterdam’s MBO College Airport during their offshore wind skills exchange at East Coast College with training providers Hexis. Picture: HexisStudents from the Amsterdam’s MBO College Airport during their offshore wind skills exchange at East Coast College with training providers Hexis. Picture: Hexis (Image: Hexis)

With the young engineers in colleges on both sides of the North Sea being brought together by Vattenfall it has seen the ECC students working with electrical engineering and aviation students from Amsterdam’s MBO College Airport.

They spent two weeks in Lowestoft training on specialist industry equipment at the Energy Skills Centre, in its Environmental Survival Tank and delivered a workshop to design and build a virtual windfarm.

Eastern Daily Press: Students from the Amsterdam’s MBO College Airport undergoing specialist sea survival skills training their offshore wind skills exchange in the Environmental Survival Tank at East Coast College. Picture: East Coast CollegeStudents from the Amsterdam’s MBO College Airport undergoing specialist sea survival skills training their offshore wind skills exchange in the Environmental Survival Tank at East Coast College. Picture: East Coast College (Image: East Coast College)

They also visited two offshore wind farm bases and control rooms and went behind the scenes at Associated British Ports (ABP) Lowestoft.

Denise Hone, senior stakeholder and community engagement manager for Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, said: "Partnerships like this are really important for Vattenfall and the offshore wind industry.

"As we move into construction of our Norfolk Wind Zone, we need local people to work on our project so this is a great opportunity for local students to get involved."

Rachel Bunn, East Coast College director of commercial and community projects, said drone and robotics skills training were being explored for future exchanges.