Renewable Energy Skills Strategy SSC Collaborative Findings June 2010

1. Renewable Energy Skills Strategy SSC Collaborative Findings June 2010 Key Findings

2. Context • Renewable Energy is not a new industry but an extension to existing industries and activities • Employment is currently relatively low numbers in terms of direct jobs, but potential for significant growth • Extent to which ‘new’ jobs will be created varies by technology and section of the supply chain • There is no clear evidence that technical jobs will change significantly over the next decade – it is more likely that up-skilling of core skills will be required • Employers will generally not recruit specifically for Renewables roles, but Renewables are likely to diversify and extend many existing jobs • The core skills of workers in the energy-related sectors are highly transferable, being based on a thorough grounding in technical competence • it is these workers that will provide the flexibility and resource capability (both level of skill and numbers) to deploy Renewables

3. Skills Requirements • Jobs will predominantly come from up-skilling the current sector workforces • With often lengthy lead-times to competence, a proactive investment in skills is needed • Without a proactive approach to skills investment these opportunities could migrate overseas and the UK will fail to maximise employment opportunities • There are shortages in most engineering disciplines, both for highly qualified engineers and experienced technicians • Increasing reliance on STEM subjects will exacerbate current shortages • Up-skilling and re-skilling training can be delivered quickly, but the experience to carry out the roles competently and unsupervised takes longer to develop • Skills from redundant workers could support ‘renewables’ skills requirements - need to consider transferable skills and non-traditional entry routes • Long term strategies rely on new entrants into STEM careers either through FE/HE routes or apprenticeships

4. Priority Roles • Project managers with qualifications in engineering are needed across a number of technologies and sections of the supply chain • Of the 11 roles identified as ‘High Priority’ 7 are at level 5 and above • Design and control systems roles will be needed across all industries • Systems integration skills will be required to enable the different technologies to work together • Energy Assessment and Energy Advice are new growth areas • There are two distinct phases for most technologies: • immediate up-skilling or re-skilling of experienced staff to meet the current need • longer term development of new entrants through STEM courses and apprenticeships

5. Training Requirements • On the whole Renewables training can be delivered fairly easily and quickly as the training tends to be short modules to top up existing skills • Much of the existing training is not formally accredited and therefore not currently funded • Funding solutions need to be flexible, focussing on ‘top-up’ units of learning to up-skill the existing workforce, rather than focussing solely on new entrants • Need to consider lead time to developing training and the resources to deliver the training and assess for which there are already shortages • For employers and training providers willing to invest, the opportunities relating to renewable energy technologies are significant • Not all industries have proven technology, where there is uncertainty over the way forward (for example marine), there will need to be a rapid response to training development and funding once the dominant technology is identified.

6. Supply Chain • As renewables technologies become more established it is important to consider the skills requirements and linkages across the whole supply chain • Renewables will be competing against other technologies and is likely to put considerable strain on supply chains in a number of sectors • To reduce supply chain constraints a clear, long-term policy framework is needed to give investors and suppliers confidence to invest for future demand • The development and growth of greater manufacturing capacity in areas such as wind turbines is also essential both for the successful development of renewable technologies and in supporting the economic recovery

7. Emerging Technologies • Renewable Energy is an emerging and rapidly changing segment of the UK economy • Innovation will be the key for continued expansion, leading to new solutions and lower costs for technologies both for existing and emerging • For emerging technologies, determining the skills requirements is especially challenging because there are uncertainties about the exact nature of skills required, the timing and extent of deployment, and, hence, when the skills will be needed • A further barrier is that understandably Governments need to see evidence of need before funding is provided, but for emerging industries where skills investment is required prior to jobs being available this is almost impossible to evidence • Core skills and flexible training solutions are needed to address the uncertainty that technological innovation will bring

8. Role of SSC’s • A sector-led approach is the best means to engage employers on Renewable Energy issues and sell and promote solutions • SSCs, working collaboratively, have the employer engagement mechanisms to show how principles applied in one sector can be utilised across others, and have the capability to promote, test, and feedback on good practice • SSCs must have the lead in forecasting skills needs in the low carbon context through their LMI to ensure a match between supply and demand • This project has demonstrated how effective a collaborative approach across SSC / SSB can be and needs to be build upon • The Home Energy Efficiency skills group is an example of another cross sector collaboration focussing on a specific element of the Low Carbon agenda

9. Government Support • SSCs need Government support in the form of appropriate policy in order to be able to stimulate both demand from employers and innovation in skills development and delivery • There needs to be greater confidence that the market is sustainable to encourage investment in skills development • Skills should be focussed on business need articulated by employers but incorporating the requirements of emerging policy designed to stimulate demand • Targets need to be clearly articulated in meaningful terms, e.g. SME’s will respond far better to an argument based around ‘business opportunity’ than high level EU targets • Funding needs to be flexible and able to deliver rapid response solutions

10. Renewable Energy Skills Challenge – Ensuring UK has appropriate skills to maximise potential of Renewables ...

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