We've been talking for years about the shortage of technical talent in the renewable energy operation and maintenance sector. Companies can't find qualified technicians. Vocational training, despite offering real and well-paid job opportunities, hasn't quite solidified its position as a path to professional success in the public consciousness: there aren't enough students, there's a lack of interest, and there's a disconnect between what's taught in the classroom and what the sector needs on the ground. And there's talent that wants to enter the renewable energy sector but encounters all sorts of barriers: a lack of awareness of the opportunities, a lack of clear career paths, and difficulty in certifying their skills.

The conclusion after months of work, meetings, and conversations with industry stakeholders is that it's not just a talent shortage: there's a lack of connection. A connection between training and companies, between opportunities and people, between what's taught and what the sector needs. And that's why AEMER conceived the idea of ​​developing a sector-wide platform to address this problem collaboratively, where everyone contributes.

That platform is called SINCRO, a sector-wide talent network for the energy transition. It's not an academy, nor a typical job board, nor a course catalog. It's the shared infrastructure the sector needs to systematically connect training, businesses, and talent: a real-world data observatory, a verified sector-specific job board, integration pathways for groups currently unable to find employment, and a professional passport that certifies a technician's skills regardless of the company where they learned them.

EXPOFIMER is the opportunity to bring all these discussions to life in a real-world setting. On June 10th and 11th in Seville, the Employment, Talent, and Training thematic area will become the venue where we will discuss, from different perspectives, each of the platform's modules: its objectives, challenges and opportunities, red lines, activation roadmap, and the commitments of the participating stakeholders. The actual activation of the modules will be decided in the fall, based on the conclusions of EXPOFIMER.

Why now, and why this way? Because the talent shortage in renewable energy O&M isn't solved with just another training program or a generic job bank. It's solved when companies in the sector, vocational training centers, organizations working with vulnerable populations, and government agencies start talking to each other with a shared purpose. That's what SINCRO aims to be: the space where that conversation happens and where agreements are transformed into action.

There's also a territorial dimension that I consider fundamental and that is often left out of the discussion. Wind and solar farms are located in rural municipalities. The jobs created by their operation and maintenance should benefit the people who live near these assets. Today, this isn't always the case. SINCRO wants to change that.

This thematic area wouldn't have been possible without the support of our sponsors, Salicru and CESTE, whom we thank for being part of the change and helping us bring this project to fruition. We will also have the honor of welcoming Manuel Larrasa, Secretary General of Energy for the Regional Government of Andalusia, who will join us for the inauguration of the thematic area. The full program details and list of participants are available on the EXPOFIMER website.

And as a special event on the morning of the 10th, we will have a training session showcasing an innovative project: “Vocational Training that Ignites the Territory: Energy Communities as Engines of Rural Change,” demonstrating that when vocational training focuses on the local area, extraordinary things happen.

If you work in renewable energy operations and maintenance, technical training, job placement, or territorial development, Seville is the place to be this June.