More than 500 Colombian electricians have trained with Enpal, a Berlin-based clean technology company valued at more than US$1 billion, to help expand Germany’s renewable energy workforce. The workers install solar panels, heat pumps (devices that use electricity and outside air to heat homes) and other clean energy systems in private homes. They travel to Germany with permanent job contracts and receive salaries from their first day.
The program shows why the energy transition needs skilled workers as well as technology. Germany can buy solar panels and heating equipment, but companies still need trained electricians to install these systems safely. Enpal responded to this labor gap by creating a training program in Colombia in cooperation with SENA, the country’s public vocational training service, under a migration agreement between Colombia and Germany.
The initiative offers Colombian technicians a route to stable employment abroad while helping Germany meet its climate goals. It also raises a practical question for prospective applicants: What does the journey from a Colombian training center to a German rooftop involve?
How Colombian electricians train for jobs in Germany
The process begins in Colombia, where candidates pass a selection process and spend an average of six months preparing for work in Germany. Enpal pays for German classes and helps them convert their driver’s licenses, obtain visas and begin the recognition process for their professional diplomas.
Once they arrive in Berlin, workers enter the Enpal Academy for six weeks of initial training covering German safety standards and technical knowledge. They then complete another five to 11 months of training and practical work while Germany finishes recognizing their qualifications.
The company says it spends up to 20,000 euros per person on flights, courses, housing and paperwork, plus 12,000 euros for the training program itself, bringing the total to as much as 32,000 euros per worker. Enpal considers that cost worthwhile because, according to its Latin America program manager, about 90% of those who begin the training stay with the company.
Its team of roughly 1,200 electricians also includes about 50 Brazilians. However, the company’s experience with Colombia has convinced it to concentrate on a single country, since sourcing workers from one country makes selection, preparation and immigration paperwork easier to manage. Some Colombians have already become instructors themselves, including one who teaches heating systems that Colombian workers rarely encounter at home because of the climate. This illustrates how the program can help workers develop skills over the long term.
Germany’s shortage of green energy workers
Enpal’s push responds to a much bigger shortage across Germany, where the country’s labor market research center expects the green transition alone to require 160,000 additional skilled workers by 2030.
A German economic institute reports that technicians who install solar systems and wind turbines have become a bottleneck for electrification. Another report found an average shortfall of more than 148,000 skilled workers in infrastructure, the energy transition and digitalization between July 2025 and June 2026. Without enough workers to install and activate the technology, renewable energy projects can be delayed.
Another estimate, from the KOFA skilled-labor center, puts the shortage for solar and wind expansion at 216,000 workers. Although the figures vary, all point to a significant labor gap. International training therefore gives German companies a way to expand their teams while local training systems work to meet demand, and it gives Colombia a role in the global energy transition.
At the same time, SENA’s public employment agency has published job offers for electricity technologists seeking work in Germany. Some listings closed quickly after companies received enough applications, suggesting that Colombian technicians see these jobs as a real opportunity. Colombia’s challenge now is to keep developing skills at home so that workers’ international opportunities also contribute to its own workforce.