College bosses have been blown over by a staggering demand for places on a pioneering course offering training in how to build and maintain wind turbines.
The UK's first nationally-accredited renewable energy course is being run at the Ashington-based Northumberland College and backed by the county council in a bid to give students a foothold in the potentially huge wind energy employment market.
A taster course started last month and received a massive 400% more expressions of interest than there were places available - with inquiries from would-be students as far afield as mainland Europe.
The Vocationally Related Qualification (VQR) in sustainable energy is aimed at equipping students with the skills to install, service and maintain small-scale and domestic wind turbines. The county council, which helped develop the course, claims it could put the region at the forefront of the industry and offer bright employment prospects for wind turbine engineers, who could command salaries of £35,000-a-year around the world.
But it has been criticised by campaigners living near proposed wind farms in Northumberland, who claim the training won't lead to any employment locally.
The course, developed by members of the Northumberland Renewable Energy Group, is one of only two of its kind in Europe and has been hailed as a breakthrough in giving local people the chance to gain highly-marketable turbine engineering skills.
Last night Coun Bill Brooks, the county council executive member for environment and regeneration, said: "It took more than two years to develop this course, with our partners. Along with Northumberland College, we recognised then, and still do, that real opportunities exist worldwide for qualified renewable energy engineers.
"We want the region's young people and those looking for a change of career to be able to access these opportunities, wherever they may be."
Ian Fisher, construction lecturer at Northumberland College, said: "This course is giving people the opportunity to gain practical skills in the construction of small wind turbines suitable for homes, community buildings and businesses.
"It will contribute to building a home-grown skills base in the UK in an employment sector that will see significant growth over the coming years." The demand is such that all places have already been taken on a second taster course to be run at the college in the next few weeks. The full course starts in September.
Last night Cath Davidson, who chairs Lynemouth Parish Council and has been spearheading local opposition to ScottishPower's bid to erect 13 giant wind turbines next to the Alcan industrial complex, said students on the course were likely to be disappointed if they expected to get locally-based jobs as a result.
"We have visited a ScottishPower wind farm in Scotland and there are no jobs involved locally. These companies have their own engineers and maintenance people. I am all in favour of people being trained and getting new skills, but students are mistaken if they think this course will help them get jobs locally. That is just a nonsense."
People interested in enrolling for the full course in September should contact Ian Fisher on (01670) 841200.
