17th April 2025
The UK Government has set a Net Zero target for 2050, which includes reducing emissions by 45% and achieving 95% low-carbon electricity, as well as having a goal of installing 600,000 electric heat pumps a year by 2028.
These ambitious objectives are great news for our cleaner environment, but the emerging technologies involved in achieving this are still relatively new and the workforce needs upskilling in order to deliver these aims.
South Devon College is at the forefront of driving this training forward, thanks to £1.5 million funding to develop its new cutting-edge Clean Energy Centre – set to be a regional centre of excellence for clean energy technologies and a hub for businesses across the South West to upskill new and existing workforce.
The finance, from Devon County Council and Torbay Council’s Devolution Deal, will be spent on the remodelling and expansion of an existing building, based on Long Road in Paignton. The centre currently houses training in plumbing and electrical for students of all ages and abilities and with this investment will become uniquely placed as the South West’s hub for emerging clean energy technologies.
Installing new equipment and facilities, together with enhancing staff expertise, will ensure the state-of-the-art centre will be the cornerstone of training for businesses across the South West in the booming growth industries of green skills and renewable energy technologies.
The focus will be on renewable energy sources, plumbing and electrical studies, and the updated provision will provide training and qualifications on sustainable technologies such as air source and ground source heat pumps, solar thermal and EV charger installation. This will be accompanied by new and updated IT, including AI features.
The College will initially offer an apprenticeship in renewable energy. A range of qualifications for businesses and individuals of all ages hoping to progress in a career in sustainable technologies will also be launched in collaboration with employers and using industry insight to ensure relevance.
Spencer Brown, Programme Coordinator of Building Services at South Devon College, said: “We need to ensure our facilities are equipped with current up-to-date equipment, as it’s such fast-moving technology, so we are aiming to collaborate with manufacturers and suppliers for sponsorship of the latest technology.
“As a training provider we need to be ahead of the curve of cutting-edge technologies. Our staff will attend the Installer Show and other relevant trade shows to keep abreast of new and emerging technologies, as well as undergoing CPD training sessions to ensure their knowledge and expertise is up to date.”
In creating this expanded training space, the College aims to train, re-train and upskill 2,000 low carbon technology technicians, installers and retrofit experts by 2030.
Mr Brown continued: “There is a very real need for training, as highlighted by employers. Renewables is a growing market and, to meet demand, our new renewables apprenticeship starts in September this year – we are the only College in the area offering that particular provision at the moment.”
The aim is to also offer commercial courses for upskilling current employees, with funded options, to address the lack of qualified engineers working within renewables, and ensure that businesses are able to work with current technologies.
Within workforces, it is expected that existing plumbing and gas engineers will move across to work on ground source/ air source heat pumps and solar thermal, whilst electricians will need to branch out into installing solar photovoltaics and electric vehicle charging points.
With that in mind, the College is looking to set up a PV installation course in the near future, to train electricians in PV panel installation, as well as battery storage facilities from the National Grid.
“We will also aim to offer adult part-time courses as well in the future, from a constantly growing list of commercial courses from various awarding bodies, leading to business growth, both locally and nationally. The highly skilled workforce trained in new and emerging sustainable technologies will have improved earning potential and career opportunities.
“The new centre is clean, modern and bright and will be a great learning environment.” Mr Brown concluded.
The College already runs provisions on EV charging techniques and has already contributed to employee upskilling in this area.
Laurence Frewin, Principal at South Devon College, said: “Locally Torbay Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and, as an authority, seeks to achieve Net Zero by 2030.
“This is set against a challenging skills position, with the South West Net Zero Hub Retrofit Skills Report highlighting a need for 18,000 trained heating engineers for air source heat pumps by 2030. However, this is viewed against a baseline of 524 in 2023 so it’s clearly a significant challenge.”
“The South Devon College Clean Energy Centre is a major step forward for the region and allows us to support businesses in the South West in developing the skills they need.
“As a College we’ve gained a reputation as leaders in our sector for sustainability and we’re now very proud to offer this as a regional centre of excellence to support the government’s mission to make Great Britain a clean energy superpower.”
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