At the BWO Skilled Workers Summit North Sea on February 17, 2026 at the Bremen Chamber of Commerce, representatives from business, politics, administration and science discussed key issues of securing skilled workers in the course of offshore expansion. The event was organized by the German Offshore Wind Energy Association (BWO), which has established the summit as a platform for discussing training requirements, labour market development and regional value creation.
Expertise was also contributed from the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind. Dr. Klaus-Peter Buss from the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI) presented the first preliminary findings from the innovation area “Social and economic issues of the expansion of offshore wind energy” of the Living Lab, which is being carried out as part of the TEN.efzn project network.
The implementation of offshore expansion targets has social prerequisites on land. These include port, transport and energy infrastructures as well as production and maintenance sites, the supply of skilled workers and social infrastructures. At the same time, offshore expansion opens up new opportunities for regional development – if the appropriate framework conditions are created: In coastal regions, there are high expectations to link the energy transition and regional development more closely. However, the link with the expansion of wind energy has so far only been achieved in isolated cases.
This is precisely where the Living Lab 70GW Offshore Wind comes in: through expert interviews with stakeholders from industry, politics, administration and civil society as well as planned workshops to discuss initial findings. The aim is to provide concrete knowledge for industry, politics and administration – so that offshore expansion not only succeeds technically, but is also anchored in society.
Photo copyright: BWO – Bundesverband Windenergie Offshore e.V.
