Xodus Launches Transition Skills Initiative

Xodus has launched a new transition skills initiative called X-Academy.

X-Academy will provide training opportunities for hundreds of people to work directly on initiatives to reduce emissions and accelerate efforts towards net zero and focus bright minds on solving real life climate change energy issues, according to Xodus.

The initiative comprises two-year mentored placements in Aberdeen, which will be open to graduates and people looking to reskill. The application process for the new initiative will launch shortly, according to Xodus, who said candidates can register their interest through its website.

ETZ Ltd has invested a grant of $2.1 million (GBP 1.6 million) to fund two years of running costs and part-fund the first-year cohort, which will contain 24 participants who will start in December. In addition to ETZ, X-Academy is supported by Scotwind consortium partners BP and EnBW, who are planning to provide more than $1.3 million (GBP 1 million) to X-Academy in a five-year deal.

“We want to use the time and resource spent on workplace training to make a transformative difference to support the planet,” Peter Tipler, X-Academy director and sales and marketing director at Xodus, said in a company statement.

“X-Academy will enable selected participants to have a meaningful impact in low carbon energy, focusing their collective mindpower on action that will address emissions and decarbonization targets,” he added in the statement.

“With each trainee spending around 2,000 hours a year through on the job learning, we want to harness that power and put talented and motivated people to work addressing the moon-shot ideas that could make the biggest difference,” Tipler went on to say.

The X-Academy director noted that the organization was thrilled to have the support of ETZ, BP and EnBW and said X-Academy was in talks with other stakeholders “to ensure X-Academy can help as many people as possible”.

Maggie McGinlay, the chief executive at ETZ, said, “ETZ is committed to ensuring a just transition by enabling the transition of skills to progress low carbon energy opportunities”.

“We are excited to support this initiative which will deliver a practical and action focused model to deliver a workforce that is ready to support the leading position the North East of Scotland is taking in the journey to net zero,” McGinlay added.

Emeka Emembolu, the senior vice president of North Sea at BP, said, “Scotland is uniquely positioned to lead the energy transition by harnessing the decades of skills and experience built up in the offshore oil and gas sector”.

“Initiatives like the X-Academy will open doors for existing and future talent to pursue careers in the low carbon energy sector – and importantly be included in a just transition,” Emembolu added.

“That’s exactly why skills development was a critical component of our ambitious ScotWind bid with EnBW, which, if successful, will see us commit more than GBP 1 million [1.3 million] to the X-Academy, so we can continue to nurture and apply those skills as we pave a new lower carbon energy future together,” the BP representative went on to say.

According to its website, Xodus is a global energy consultancy which focuses on the offshore wind, oil and gas, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, marine energy and cables and interconnectors sectors.

The company notes on its site that it recognizes the scale of the climate challenge and its criticality and says it understands that having a commitment to reducing emissions across a portfolio of assets, and ambitious targets, are absolutely necessary but not enough. It is the action that both underpin and follow the decarbonization commitment, Xodus states. The business notes that its global experts work within a decarbonization taskforce to share knowledge, collaborate and inspire change.

In July this year, BP announced that it and partner EnBW submitted a “transformational” bid for the ScotWind lease. A successful bid would bring multi-billion dollar investments into Scottish offshore wind projects and supporting infrastructure, including ports, harbors and shipyards, BP noted.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com