“We know there is going to be a huge skills shortage when it comes to renewables” – Andrew Lamond, ETA

Edinburgh’s Energy Training Academy is stepping up its bid to close the “huge” renewables skills gap by offering what is understood to be Scotland’s first direct route to becoming a low carbon heating engineer.

Working in conjunction with accreditation body the National Open College Network (NOCN), the academy will become the first training provider in Scotland to offer the NOCN level three diploma in “low carbon heating technician”. And, thanks to a partnership with the Ministry of Defence’s enhanced learning credits scheme, the Energy Training Academy (ETA) course will be available initially to those looking to retrain after leaving the armed forces.

It is planned that the course will be over two years blended with work experience. On successful completion, learners will have developed an understanding of how to plan, select, size, install, commission, service and maintain low carbon central heating and hot water systems, for working in the low carbon heating industry.

The Energy Training Academy (ETA) is stepping up its bid to close what it likely to be a growing renewables skills gap. Pictured are Barry Sharp of Renewable Heat with ETA co-founders Mark Glasgow and Andrew Lamond.

ETA co-founder Andrew Lamond, who embarked on a career as a gas engineer after leaving the Royal Navy at the end of 2008, said: “The course is currently available in England but none of the colleges or universities in Scotland offer it. By making it available at the academy, we are giving people pathways directly into low carbon heating jobs without the need to go through a traditional plumbing and heating apprenticeship.

“We know there is going to be a huge skills shortage when it comes to renewables. The plan has always been to upskill existing gas engineers but it is an ageing workforce who are generally not interested in retraining at the later stages of their careers.

“Currently, you have to be a heating engineer before upskilling into low carbon technology but this will be a complete programme providing a path into that sector, specifically installing air source heat pumps.”

He added: “I started out with Scottish Gas six months after leaving the navy after going through a managed learning programme for gas. We’re offering similar but for low carbon heating to meet the industry changes as we transition towards a greener, more sustainable future.”

Barry Sharp has fitted more than 1,000 heat pumps in his 20-year career and founded Renewable Heat in 2015 alongside business partner Richard Hailstones, with the the Falkirk-based company now one of Scotland’s top heat pump installers.

Sharp welcomed the development, saying: “The course has been driven and guided by the industry so we will get a product that is useful for us. This is something that the industry has been crying out for ages.

“We all sit and complain that we can’t get the right people but don’t do anything about it. We have been searching for a way to unpack this puzzle and this might be it thanks to the work of the Energy Training Academy.

“The current roadmap to get into heat pumps is to do a four-year apprenticeship, and then train on top of that so it could take six years for a young apprentice to be properly ready. That is not the roadmap for an industry that is growing exponentially.”

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