The Arctic Supply Operator education is approved by the Greenland Department of Education.
In Greenland, the energy supply is mostly decentralized. This means that every town and settlement has its own energy-producing facilities; they are not connected to a common energy supply network or alike.
Maintenance and repair of these energy systems is carried out by people known colloquially as settlement technicians who live in the town/village. They are employed by Nukissiorfiit, the Greenlandic utility and energy company, and are often unskilled.
As the equipment becomes more and more advanced, and requires specialized knowledge or certifications to handle, the need for specialized and skilled labor increases in Greenland’s settlements and small towns. For Nukissiorfiit, there are big challenges and costs associated with sending technicians when the knowledge and skills of the settlement technicians fall short.
On top of that, in Greenland, just like in the rest of the world, there is a rising awareness of using renewable energy sources; there is also huge potential for hydropower, wind power and solar power; and Nukissiorfiit is in the process of implementation. But that too requires specialized knowledge or certifications to be able to repair and maintain.
Education is needed
In order to meet the challenges, investment must be made in education and upskilling of the settlement technicians.
The result of an extensive Arctic collaboration involving Tech College Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaanni Teknikkimik Ilinniarfik), Nukissiorfiit, Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable Energy, Herningsholm Tech College in Denmark, and the Longyearbyen School of Higher Education on Svalbard, is a vocational training program – an education.
The education has been developed with inspiration from the Danish education “Forsyningsoperator” (Supply Operator), and is a vocational training/sandwich programme. The education is for anyone who works with water or energy supply; in small or large companies, or in larger cities or small settlements. The primary focus of the education is renewable energy production.
“Settlement technicians must have the necessary skills if Greenland is to reach its goals in the green transition. The education upskills the settlement technicians so they have the necessary knowledge to operate with renewable energy sources in the villages. And yes, the settlements are small… but many a mickle makes a muckle, as they say,”
says Tonny Brink, project coordinator at Nordic Folkecenter.
The purpose of the education is to equip the settlement technicians with the necessary skills so they can professionally maintain, repair and operate energy plants in Greenland’s cities and settlements. In other words, an upskilling of the settlement technicians. If they complete the entire training, the settlement technicians can have a journeyman’s certificate in hand.
Greenland on the path to a greener future
The education, which is the first of its kind in Greenland, combines theoretical teaching with practical tasks and experience. The interaction makes the training both relevant and meaningful for the participants. As a special feature, the program offers the opportunity to receive a certificate of competence after each module. This means that participants can enter and leave the program over time, so they do not have to be away from the settlements and their family for long periods of time.
With authorisations, certifications and new competences obtained after each module, settlement technicians have the opportunity to gradually take on more complex tasks. This means that in their daily work they can supervise the operation and maintenance of supply facilities; they have the knowledge and skills to contribute to the green transition.
The figure below illustrates how the education progresses.
