Associate feature: Well-trained net-zero workforce essential to UK government’s missions

I was struck recently by a statistic. Scotland – home of GB Energy – is expected to need up to 6,000 new welders and other technical professionals to deliver its offshore project demands in the coming years¹.

It sums up a wider emerging challenge the UK faces to ensure progress in the energy transition. 

And it’s a challenge at the heart of the UK Government’s mission to raise the country’s growth prospects.

Addressing this challenge requires upskilling, reskilling and empowering a new generation of energy professionals – and tackling some of the inequalities in these areas, such as encouraging more female and ethnic minority recruitment.

The reality is by 2050, there could be 1.18 million UK net-zero roles available². But not enough people with skills to fill them. 

Skills England’s report in September 2024 said the UK will need skills across a range of sectors, for example, in renewables, electricity networks, carbon management and energy efficiency. 

Shell UK is stepping up efforts to help close the gap. For example, we developed the SkillsTransition programme. Through targeted investment, it aims to help 15,000 people into jobs with a focus on the energy transition by 2035.

Work is under way to deliver this, including developing a series of energy transition skills hubs. In partnership with further education colleges, hubs will provide teaching space and equipment demonstrating the latest energy technologies. They offer students the chance to learn and refine critical industry skills – from welding and fabrication to engineering for energy projects. 

The first two hubs welcome their inaugural cohort this autumn. At Pembrokeshire College in Wales, for example, students are learning how to work in virtual control rooms for offshore wind, hydrogen plants and hydrocarbon projects.  The Pembrokeshire hub is the largest of its kind in the UK.

At Fife College, students get an immersive hands-on experience of a nanogrid, a self-contained energy system that relies on its own energy source such as renewable power.

A third hub is under development at the North East Scotland College in Aberdeen and is expected to open in 2025, to deliver vital welding skills.

These hubs offer the opportunity to accelerate change needed to meet the energy transition skills challenge – and build a highly-skilled, and more diverse, workforce.

In fact, Shell UK’s history in this area dates back to 1982 with the launch of the first Shell LiveWIRE programme in Scotland to address youth unemployment.

Forty years later we continue to invest in skills, providing more than 2,000 unique courses and programmes, as of 2022, representing around 72,000 hours of training in the UK.

We want as many people as possible to benefit from the energy system of the future. 

Clearly, we can’t do it alone.

Filling the UK’s net-zero skills gap will require unprecedented collaboration. This includes businesses like Shell UK, public sector institutions, local councils, and, of course, governments to provide effective policy frameworks to drive change.

I’m pleased to see the UK government’s emphasis at the recent Labour Party conference to create skilled energy jobs and to support economic growth. And I look forward to more policy detail soon.

The near-term risk for both the public and private sectors is high. Now is the time to act.

Shell UK is getting on with the job – with deep experience in providing energy skills – together with our partners to drive change. Change that will be key to unlocking the UK’s net-zero workforce and economic growth.

References:
1. CESAP Pathfinder (Skills Development Scotland, November 2023) cesap-pathfinder-wp1-report.pdf (skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk)
2. Local Green Jobs Report for local Government Association (LGA, September 2021)

This article is sponsored by Shell UK

shell.co.uk/jobs-and-skills