DBS Offshore Wind Farms launch STEM Activity Programme for East Riding Primary Schools

DBS (Dogger Bank South) Offshore Wind Farms, owned and under development by RWE and Masdar, have launched a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) programme aimed at children aged between nine and 11 years of age. Using a range of fun and engaging activities, the DBS Primary Schools Engagement Programme aims to raise awareness about offshore wind and the wide variety of skills and careers associated with it.

The programme will work with eight primary schools located along the proposed onshore export cable route for the DBS projects from Skipsea, where the cables would make landfall, to the new converter stations to the south of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The DBS Primary Schools Engagement Programme was launched in June at Molescroft Primary School in Beverley where 60 Year 6 pupils took part in a STEM Activity Day featuring a wind turbine business game.

Pupils took on roles as engineers and designers and worked as a team to develop wind turbine blades to establish which would produce the most cost-effective energy. They also learned about the steps needed to develop wind farms at sea and about the vast range of careers and skills required to support the sector.

Year 6 teacher at Molescroft Primary School, Ben Rowsell said: “It has been a very engaging day which the children have loved. The activity has highlighted every part of STEM, which is a big feature at our school, and has also shown the children real life application for maths. Any example where you can show children how science and maths is used in the real world and in the future is so useful. The careers element of the day has been a key part, showing the children jobs that they could be doing in the future. It’s been a really exciting day, the expertise in delivery and quality of RWE resources has been excellent.”

DBS representative and Managing Director of UKSTEM Ltd, Mike Cargill added: “It’s been great to launch the DBS schools’ engagement programme at Molescroft Primary School. It was superb to see how engaged and enthusiastic the children were in taking part in the activities today. They were keen to learn about the industry and asked many fantastic questions about how offshore wind farms are developed and constructed. We hope that the programme will provide them with lots to think about and consider how they too could get involved in the future.”

DBS Offshore Wind Farms comprise two projects, DBS East and DBS West. They are being developed in shallow waters over 100km off the northeast coast of England by project owners RWE and Masdar. Together, the projects will have up to 200 turbines and a combined estimated capacity of three gigawatts that could provide electricity for up to three million typical UK homes*.