Working at the top of an offshore wind turbine was brought to life for children in Norfolk by Swedish wind farm developer Vattenfall using virtual reality technology.
Technology and games that tell the story of the new industry taking shape off the east coast and the wide range of job roles it is creating were part of a skills programme designed by Vattenfall and its student 'consultants.' Children - and their parent and grandparents - from across the county used VR headsets to discover what it feels like to inspect the engineering at the top of a 150m turbine tower generating electricity off the coast.
The VR experiences then took them 'by boat' to turbines 40km off the coast where they then took a virtual lift to the top and inspected the mechanics as part of Vattenfall's implementation of the offshore wind sector deal in Norfolk.
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Susan Falch-Lovesey, Vattenfall's local liaison officer and skills champion, said a number of people had experienced the tours and discovered more about offshore wind development and its careers at its latest event at Norwich Science Festival.
"Children, young people, parents and grandparents leave knowing more about the offshore wind industry, the range of jobs it offers and the green clean energy being produced."
Vattenfall, driving for fossil-fuel free living within a generation, plans to build two of the world's biggest wind farms, Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas, off the Norfolk coast.
Six-year-old Caleb Fadhel queued patiently for his tour to the top of a turbine with his mum, Rachael, and three -year-old sister, Aiyah.
He described the VR experience of standing on the top of the turbine and the boat trip as "amazing and exciting." His mother, Rachael, of Norwich, said: "This is a great careers tool, especially for children because it's fun and informative. It is good that children can grow up finding out about more careers than the fire, police and doctor-type jobs that they see."
Vattenfall hopes to win consent in December for its 1.8 GW Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm, more than 47km from the Norfolk Coast adjacent to its proposed Norfolk Boreas, which also 1.8GW.
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