Energy Talent Plan
The energy transition is more urgent than ever. Geopolitical tensions, high costs, grid congestion and a shortage of technical talent are hampering progress. This has a direct impact on the business climate, overall prosperity and the achievement of climate targets.
The Arnhem–Nijmegen region, as part of Lifeport, has everything it needs to make a difference here: a strong ecosystem with international players (TenneT, Alliander, DNV, ElaadNL), innovation hubs (Connectr, CleanTech Park Arnhem, NEcN) and a rich history in energy. This positions the region as the Netherlands’ premier energy hotspot.
A major challenge is the shortage of skilled workers. Over the next ten years, around 15,000 additional professionals will be needed — from technicians to systems architects — whilst the nature of work is changing and new skills are required.
Through this Energy Talent Plan, we are bringing together the strengths of the education sector, the business community and public authorities. We are committed to recruiting, training, reskilling and retaining talent in order to accelerate the energy transition and sustainably strengthen Arnhem–Nijmegen’s position as an energy hub.
The Lifeport Region Arnhem Nijmegen needs about 15,000 extra professionals for the energy transition in the next ten years. There are now 1.7 times more people working in the energy sector than the national average; in 2023, there were 15,710 energy jobs adding €2.3 billion in value. A further 25,000 new jobs are expected to be created in Energy and High Tech up to 2034, including replacement. This demand set against an ageing workforce presents a major challenge.
So although there is considerable demand for technical talent in the energy sector, most existing initiatives focus mainly on executive profiles. However, companies in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region also need theoretically educated, innovative, digitalisation and beta talent that can contribute to solutions in the energy transition. Through these solutions, aimed among other things at labour-saving smartening, we reduce the pressure on the demand for technical executive talent and thus become more productive together.
The Energy Talent Plan links existing initiatives, launches new projects and promotes lifelong learning to effectively accelerate the energy transition.
Energy and Human Capital
The energy transition and the development of human capital in the Lifeport region are taking place within a broad policy framework at European, national and regional levels. At national level, the government is promoting the sustainability of energy generation and infrastructure, for example through the Climate Agreement.
The existing Human Capital Agreement (HCA) forms the basis for a joint approach to labour market shortages in the three key sectors (Energy, Health and High Tech) within the Lifeport Arnhem-Nijmegen region. The education sector, the business community and the government are working together on this to strengthen the intake, progression and long-term employability of talent.
The Energy Talent Plan aims to strengthen and scale up initiatives for recruiting, training and retaining operational talent, whilst also launching initiatives for innovative talent. The Energy Talent Plan is therefore a detailed implementation of the HCA for one specific sector and is thus aligned with other regional sector-specific talent plans, such as that for Semicon/High Tech. It is also aligned with overarching regional agreements such as the Internship Pact.
