UK Clean Power 2030 Targets Face Critical Workforce Shortage: Industry Leaders Call for National Skills Strategy and Apprenticeship Investment
Key Insights
Achieving the UK's ambitious 2030/2050 clean power targets is significantly challenged by a growing shortage of skilled workers, particularly electricians and plumbers.
Industry executives advocate for a comprehensive national skills strategy, emphasizing expanded apprenticeships, vocational training, and diverse entry-level pathways into renewables.
Key stakeholders highlight the need for regulatory certainty, sustained industry investment in skills, and targeted funding to address critical workforce needs across the energy sector.
Despite increasing apprenticeship uptake, challenges persist in incentivizing employers and expanding training capacity, underscoring the urgency for government action.
The United Kingdom's ambitious targets for a 95% clean energy grid by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 face a formidable bottleneck: a critical shortage of skilled labor. This challenge, frequently cited alongside investment signals and grid infrastructure upgrades, dominated discussions at the recent Clean Power 2030 Summits, which convened experts from the UK Solar Summit, Wind Power Finance & Investment Summit, and Green Hydrogen Summit. Industry leaders underscored the urgent need for a robust workforce development strategy to enable the rapid deployment of solar, wind, and other clean energy technologies.
Executives from British Solar Renewables (BSR), JTL, Energy & Utility Skills Group, UK Warehousing Association (UKWA), JA Solar, and Telis Energy offered insights into building the necessary workforce. Fran Button, Deputy CEO of BSR, emphasized a "ground up" approach, offering entry-level roles and fostering internal development through apprenticeships and ongoing learning. BSR actively engages with students and graduates, promoting diversity and inclusivity to broaden the talent pool, viewing workforce development as central to long-term business and sector impact.
Chris Claydon, CEO of JTL, a leading independent training provider, highlighted the severe shortage of qualified electricians and plumbers, trades vital for decarbonization efforts, including home retrofits and EV charging infrastructure. Despite more electricians entering apprenticeship training annually, the electrical workforce has shrunk by nearly 20% since 2018 and is projected to decline another 15.4% by 2038. Claydon stressed that apprenticeships remain the "gold standard" for entry into these safety-critical industries, yet progression from classroom-based courses into apprenticeships remains below 10%. The primary challenge, he noted, is not recruiting apprentices but incentivizing employers to take them on and expanding training capacity.
Stephen Barrett, Director of Membership and Strategic Engagement at Energy & Utility Skills Group, called for innovative thinking and collaboration among regulators, industry, and the skills ecosystem. He urged regulators to provide certainty to encourage long-term investment in apprenticeships and graduate programs. Industry must continue investing in skills across the supply chain and among asset owners to ensure a steady pipeline of resources, mitigating unsustainable salary escalation and project cost increases. Claire Bottle, CEO of UKWA, advocated for a national skills strategy aligned with decarbonization targets, encompassing expanded apprenticeships, upskilling programs, and technical college offerings in renewable energy and grid technologies, alongside making these careers attractive.
A spokesperson for JA Solar pointed to the government's Clean Energy Workforce Strategy, emphasizing greater investment in technical training and directing industrial investment into communities where projects are built. William Duncan, CEO of Telis Energy, suggested leveraging existing infrastructure and systems within large energy companies to grow the workforce. The consensus is clear: without a concerted, collaborative effort to address the skills gap, the UK's clean energy ambitions risk being significantly hampered, impacting both economic growth and environmental targets.