The US House of Representatives has rubber-stamped an almost $800,000 funding bid from the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College to launch an offshore wind training programme for students eyeing careers in the burgeoning sector.

The funding, according to high-profile Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who submitted the request, would help workforces including those in “underserved communities” enter the sector, which is foreseen expanding from 42MW to 30GW in the next decade.

“[By] investing in our institutions like SUNY Maritime, we are creating hundreds of jobs and training for the energy workforce that we are going to need in the future,” she said at a press conference at the maritime college, located in Throggs Neck, in New York City’s Bronx district.