The UK achieved an important milestone last month in the race to become a clean energy superpower by 2030. The bill to create Great British Energy – the new publicly backed energy company – received royal assent.
The organisation will be backed by £8.3 billion over this parliament to leverage additional private sector investment and expertise to deploy clean energy technologies and create high-quality jobs across the UK.
Amid this promise of clean energy creating tens of thousands of new green jobs, a key consideration is how we transition workers from carbon intensive to clean industries.
This is not only a moral requirement, as we cannot afford to leave these workers and communities behind, but also an economic necessity.
We will struggle to fill these new roles solely with those entering the workforce for the first time. We need to draw on the existing workforce, including those employed in oil and gas, steel and other energy-intensive industries.
This is talked about as a challenge for the future, but the transition is happening now.
Scotland’s Grangemouth refinery, which marked its 100-year anniversary last year, will cease manufacturing operations this summer following a decision to close the plant.
More than 400 workers will lose their jobs and need support to reskill and transition into other roles.
The Scottish and UK governments have put in place £225 million of funding alongside a training guarantee for all staff.
The ECITB is supporting some of these workers through a new cross-skilling programme we are piloting, which will provide existing oil and gas technicians with the technical training needed to work on wind projects.
Looking at the wider picture there are several challenges to navigate, such as how to sequence the transition so workers have roles to move into at the right time.
The ECITB’s Labour Forecasting Tool shows peak demand for workers in engineering construction has shifted from 2028 to 2030, a sign many projects are being delayed or deferred.
The UK government has a key role to play in providing policy certainty to help unlock the final investment decisions that will see shovels in the ground.
How we highlight available opportunities is another issue.
Our 2024 career motivations study highlighted that supporting the energy transition was not a strong enough reason on its own to attract new entrants or motivate the career choices of those already in industry. Of more importance, especially to young people, were attractive salaries, career progression and working in a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Furthermore, 41 per cent of workers in oil and gas are over 50, our latest Workforce Census found. Anecdotally, we hear that many are no longer prepared to travel for work, favouring instead to settle down closer to home – which could be a problem if there aren’t sufficient opportunities locally.
Another issue is whether skills will be transferable.
Robert Gordon University research suggests that over 90 per cent of the oil and gas workforce hold skills with medium to high transferability with the offshore renewables sector.
Our Connected Competence scheme is providing a mechanism whereby workers can demonstrate their transferable competence and could play a key role in a future skills passport.
In all of this, collaboration is key.
The UK government will be launching its industrial strategy later this year. This is an opportunity to set out a clear workforce plan for clean energy, including how to deploy existing workers.
Now is the time to pull together. Industry, government – in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and the regions – trade unions, education providers and public bodies such as GB Energy and the ECITB must work together to ensure clean energy opportunities are available for all.
We must act now. As Grangemouth demonstrates, the transition is already underway.
We owe it to the communities that have powered our energy system for the past 100 years or more to ensure they are among the first to benefit from the future clean energy opportunities.
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