Youngsters have wind in their sails to tackle climate change thanks to SSE

SCHOOL pupils in Glasgow have been helping to power change in the run-up to COP26 recently.

The S1 youngsters from St. Thomas Aquinas RC Secondary School, in the north west of the city, have been learning about floating wind turbine technology as part of SSE Renewables STEM Leadership initiative.

The scheme aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by getting them excited about the kinds of renewable energy projects SSE is delivering in the UK and around the world.

The pupils designed, built and tested model floating wind turbines using recycled materials with help and input from SSE Renewables graduate and engineering teams.

The project has run alongside the school’s Science and Technology curriculum and complemented lessons on electricity generation, sustainability and biodiversity.

Andy Lewin, Floating Wind, Project Director at SSE Renewables said:

“It’s has been a personal highlight of the last year working with the Staff and Pupils at St. Thomas Aquinas RC Secondary school.

“The Recycled Floating Wind Challenge has given rise to a lot of innovative designs and the Students have clearly put a lot of time into applying their learning and designing their model and posters, I’d like to congratulate all the student teams for their hard work and their fascinating design solutions to one of the biggest challenges facing the offshore renewables sector today.

“It’s clear to me that this has been a valuable learning experience and I hope the students are inspired to continue learning about Climate Change and all the incredible technologies being developed in Scotland and around the world to help win the race to net zero.”

Head teacher Claire McInally said:

"Our S1 pupils have loved working in partnership with staff from SSE on this exciting challenge. They have felt empowered to be change-makers in this very important climate issue. The work in class on researching and developing ideas for prototype floating wind farm vessels really inspired the pupils and their ideas were exceptional."

"Having spoken to pupils throughout the day, they told me that they now see that they could work in that industry and that people just like them change the world working in such jobs every single day. There's no doubt that the day was great fun but has left a legacy where our pupils are now better informed and inspired to take their own small steps to lead climate change and the support from our partners in SSE was pivotal in that."