Local students enjoy visit to Oweninny Windfarm Centre

Oweninny Windfarm Visitor Centre welcomed 350 local students for Mayo’s first ever ‘Work in Wind’ event last week. The event served as a wind energy job and education fair, organised by Wind Energy Ireland, in collaboration with Oweninny Windfarm Visitor Centre and sponsored by BnM and ESB.

At the event, students from seven different Mayo schools heard about the skills gap in the wind industry and the thousands of present and future job opportunities in the sector. The many different types of roles supporting the delivery of wind energy were highlighted, showing the multiple career paths available to the next generation.

Amongst the local schools represented at the event included students from Coláiste Chomain from Rossport, Coláiste Iascaigh in Easkey, Our Lady’s Secondary School in Belmullet, Rice College in Westport, St Brendan’s College from Belmullet, St Patrick’s College in Lacken Cross and Crossmolina’s St Tiernan’s College.

A range of employers who are active in wind energy were also present to talk through the possibilities and prospects available and how the students could seek to become part of the future of the sector. This included a significant presence from major employers BnM and ESB.

Oweninny Windfarm Visitor Centre is a state-of-the-art resource that has been designed to showcase the importance of wind energy and sustainability, illustrating how this renewable form of power benefits the country and the local community. The centre does this through engaging, interactive exhibits and colourful, specially curated displays which aim to help inform and educate visitors – from schoolchildren to adults alike.

Oweninny Windfarm is Ireland’s largest onshore windfarm, jointly developed by BnM and ESB. It delivers 192MW of clean, renewable energy on an annual basis. That’s enough to meet the electricity demands for approximately 140,000 homes, or more than all the houses in Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo combined.