The UK government has announced a comprehensive plan to support workers across the country in accessing thousands of new job opportunities in the clean energy sector.
This initiative is part of the government’s Plan for Change and clean energy superpower mission, aimed at making Britain energy secure with clean power by 2030.
Aberdeen, Cheshire, Lincolnshire, and Pembrokeshire have been pinpointed as key growth regions for clean energy, boasting thriving offshore wind, nuclear, and solar industries.
Local partners in these areas will receive funding to identify the necessary skills support to deliver clean power by 2030, potentially including new training centres, courses, or career advisers.
In a significant move, the government has launched a “skills passport” in collaboration with industry and the Scottish Government.
This online tool will help oil and gas workers identify routes into several roles in the offshore wind sector, including construction and maintenance
The skills passport initiative is supported by £3.7 million of Scottish Government Just Transition funding.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband commented on the initiative: “Our Plan for Change to deliver clean power is not just about protecting households and businesses from the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets, it is also about reindustrialising Britain with thousands of well-paid, good union jobs in industrial communities.
Unlike the failed approach of previous governments, we won’t sit back and let good jobs go overseas instead of coming to our shores.
We are working with communities, businesses, and trade unions to train workers here in Britain, so we can seize the opportunities that clean power brings.”
The government will initially provide funding to Cheshire West and Chester, North and North East Lincolnshire, and Pembrokeshire for skills mapping.
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, where extensive skills mapping has already been undertaken, will be considered for further funding later in the year
Each area will receive around £1 million, with local and devolved partners empowered to develop their own plans for targeting the funding.
The initiative has garnered support from various sectors. Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB National Officer, stated: “Clean energy jobs can be vital in the delivery of good, unionised workplaces across our country. Especially in those areas left decimated by deindustrialisation.
This is a welcome first step to ensure that decent, skilled jobs can be secured by the workers who need them.”
1RenewableUK’s Executive Director of Offshore Wind, Jane Cooper, emphasised the importance of the Energy Skills Passport: “To grow our world-class offshore wind industry as fast as possible, we need the valuable experience that British oil and gas workers can bring to our sector.
“The Energy Skills Passport provides a pathway for them into clean energy by identifying which offshore wind roles which would suit them best and setting out the training they will need to secure these new job opportunities.”
The government’s initiative is expected to unlock £40 billion of investment annually and reindustrialise Britain with thousands of good jobs across the country.
This underscores the government’s commitment to delivering a jobs-rich clean energy transition, putting communities and trade unions at the heart of the UK’s clean energy future.