MP Peter Aldous opens the training tower at Lowestoft college with principal Simon Summers. Picture: Nick Butcher

A cutting-edge training tower for the offshore wind industry was officially opened at a ceremony in Lowestoft.

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The £100,000 facility, based at Lowestoft College, was opened yesterday alongside a refurbished engineering workshop which aims to make the college the leading training centre in its field. The 18m tower will train workers in the wind farm industry, and includes a wind turbine transfer ladder and a helicopter hoist.

Plans are also under way to install a hub and a blade in the near future.

Principal of Lowestoft College Simon Summers said: “Our new tower means that, together with the National Wind Farm Training Centre (NWFTC), we are able to offer a one-stop training centre for the offshore sector and can continue to provide the training needed for the fast growing energy industry.”

The tower was set up in partnership between the college’s maritime and offshore centre and Essex-based NWFTC as it complements the college’s large survival training tank, which can simulate the harsh conditions of the North Sea.

Meanwhile, improvements to the engineering workshop were financed by a £1.3m funding boost by University Campus Suffolk, the Local Strategic Partnership, the Skills Funding Agency and the college’s resources.

Colin Urquhart, a director for CWind, which provided funding for the training tower, said: “If you intended to take on a brand new technician and get them ready to work offshore, you would usually have to send them to different locations across the country. But here a technician can come for a day and get every qualification they need for the offshore industry.”

MP for Waveney Peter Aldous, who attended the official opening ceremony, said: “Investment in schools is paramount if we are going to make the most of opportunities in the energy industries.”