Power houses: training and skills for low-carbon energy

With almost a quarter of its generating capacity due to come offline over the next decade, the UK energy sector is gearing up for an era of almost unprecedented change.

There is no single solution available. A range of technologies, from new nuclear, renewable energy and cleaner methods of fossil-fuel generation will all play a critical role in helping to meet some of the world’s most-demanding low-carbon targets while keeping the UK’s lights on beyond 2020.

But despite the huge importance of these sectors to the UK’s energy future, there are genuine concerns over whether we will actually have the skills base to meet ambitious targets across a range of sectors.

To address these issues, an increasing number of universities are offering courses aimed at enhancing the skills base in these vitally important emerging areas of the UK energy industry.

One of the critical areas is new nuclear. Nuclear currently accounts for around 20 per cent of the UK’s generating capacity and with all but one of the existing reactors due to come out of service by the middle of the next decade, plans to build a new generation of reactors are already well advanced.