The government has announced plans to train more workers for the UK’s clean energy sector, creating more than 400,000 jobs by 2030.

Plumbers, electricians and welders are among 31 priority occupations that are “particularly in demand”.

Five new clean energy Technical Excellence Colleges will train this next generation of workers, as part of government’s drive for two-thirds of young people to be in higher-level learning .

The comprehensive national plan to train up the next generation of clean energy workers comes as employment is expected to double to 860,000 by 2030.

Government says setting clear workforce estimates for the first time will galvanise industry, the public sector and education providers to work together to deliver one cohesive strategy to invest in training for specific in demand occupations.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Communities have long been calling out for a new generation of good industrial jobs. The clean energy jobs boom can answer that call - and today we publish a landmark national plan to make it happen. 

“Our plans will help create an economy in which there is no need to leave your hometown just to find a decent job. Thanks to this government’s commitment to clean energy, a generation of young people in our industrial heartlands can have well-paid secure jobs, from plumbers to electricians and welders.

“This is a pro-worker, pro-jobs, pro-union, agenda that will deliver the national renewal our country needs.”

The government’s clean energy mission has galvanised more than £50 bn of private investment since last July.  It has given Sizewell C the green light, which will support 10,000 jobs at peak construction, announced Rolls Royce as the preferred bidder for the small modular reactor programme to support up to 3,000 jobs and kickstarted the Acorn and the Viking projects in Scotland and the North East that is estimated to support a combined 35,000 jobs, including 1,000 apprenticeships.

This builds on the 4,000 jobs already set to be created in carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS)  projects in the North-west and Teesside. 

Jobs in wind, nuclear and electricity networks all advertise average salaries of more than £50,000, compared to the UK average of £37,000, and are spread across coastal and post-industrial communities.

New initiatives in the Clean Energy Jobs Plan include:

• Five new Technical Excellence Colleges - skills pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire will be backed by a total of £2.5m which could go towards new training centres, courses or career advisers
• Transferrable skills of veterans - working with Mission Renewable, the government is launching a new programme to match veterans up with careers in solar panel installation, wind turbine factories and nuclear power stations
• Schemes for ex-offenders, school leavers and the unemployed – last year alone, 13,700 people who were out of work possessed many of the skills required for key roles in the clean energy sector, such as engineering and skilled trades
• Upskill existing workers - oil and gas workers will benefit from up to £20m in total from the UK and Scottish governments to provide bespoke careers training for thousands of new roles in clean energy. This follows high demand for the Aberdeen skills pilot, which is already supporting workers into new careers. Government is also extending the ‘energy skills passport’, which identifies routes for oil and gas workers to easily transition into roles in offshore wind, to new sectors including nuclear and the electricity grid

The plan also includes proposals to ensure jobs in the clean energy sector have good pay, terms and conditions.

• Closing loopholes in legislation to extend employment protections enjoyed by offshore oil and gas workers working beyond UK territorial seas, including the national minimum wage, to the clean energy sector
• A new Fair Work Charter between offshore wind developers and trade unions to ensure that companies benefiting from public funding provide decent wages and strong workplace rights
• Workforce criteria in grants and procurements to test and pilot innovative ways to drive fair work and skills in DESNZ grants and contracts, including through the Clean Industry Bonus and Great British Energy

It comes after the prime minister announced a package of reforms to elevate and transform the education skills system, with a new target for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level learning – academic, technical or apprenticeships – by age 25, up from 50%.

With at least one in six ex-military already armed with many of the skills needed for the clean energy sector, the government is joining forces with Mission Renewable to match them up with careers in solar panel installation, wind turbine factories, and nuclear power stations.  

The pilot will initially focus on the East of England, which will benefit from the biggest increase in the size of the clean energy workforce with over 60,000 people expected to be employed in the sector by the end of the decade. 

Zac Richardson, group chief engineer at National Grid, said: “Secure, affordable and clean energy is essential to unlocking UK economic growth and productivity – ambitions which are underpinned by electricity networks and the unprecedented levels of planned investment in them.

“We welcome the government’s focus on skills and training – especially for technical roles vital to our energy future – and look forward to working together to build a diverse, homegrown workforce that can deliver the grid of tomorrow.”

Jane Cooper, deputy chief executive at Renewable UK, added:  “The Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out the scale of the massive opportunity which the UK has to create tens of thousands of new jobs in renewables all over the country. 

“It includes practical measures which will enable government and industry to work even closer together to maximise this, such as opening new Technical Excellence Colleges, building on Britain’s current success as a global leader in clean power. 

This long-awaited plan delivers on employers’ calls for a coherent government workforce strategy for clean energy and we look forward to working with Ministers to realise its ambitions.”

To read more about the Clean Energy Jobs Plan click here