New course looks to get military leavers ‘site ready’ for Scotland’s wind sector
“The qualities service leavers bring are exactly what the wind industry needs” – Andy Elrod, Aurora Energy Services
A Highlands energy services provider is tackling a skills shortage in the renewable energy sector by training military service leavers to be “site ready”.
Aurora Energy Services said its course has been specifically designed to convert military service leavers into “immediately deployable personnel” for onshore and offshore wind projects. It will be delivered at the company’s training centre in Inverness - the largest facility of its kind in the Highlands.
Two of the participants on the seven-week “military to wind” pilot programme - which is supported by industry training bodies - have already been offered jobs.
Participants are selected from service leavers with an existing level 3 engineering background - mechanical, electrical or instrumentation - ensuring they already have a technical foundation that can be built upon.
Andy Elrod, director of training at Aurora Energy Services, said: “The qualities service leavers bring - discipline, attention to detail, safety awareness, technical competence and the ability to perform in demanding environments - are exactly what the wind industry needs.
“Applicants completing the course will be site-ready so they can go out and be gainfully employed in roles including pre-assembly construction and operations and maintenance.”
Successful course participant Declan Paterson, who hails from Kilmarnock, served 13 years with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corp (REME) as a recovery mechanic and this week started as a lifting technician at Aurora.
He said: “My background is recovery and cranes and that was always something I was looking for. It was my boss who told me about the course and I thought that might suit me.
“I’ve had my fair share of nights in the desert and now I am looking forward to getting started in my new career.”
The pilot programme aligns with broader efforts from government and industry bodies to support workforce transition, and was jointly funded by the Ministry of Defence and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), which played a key role in shaping the course standards.
Andrew Hockey, ECITB chief executive, said: “Aurora’s military to wind programme used the ECITB training standards from the wind cross skills pilot that we ran in 2025 for oil and gas workers.”
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