Energy & Utility Skills

Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills), the Sector Skills Council (SSC) works closely with the National Skills Academy for Power (the Skills Academy) to carry out regular research into the Power Sector. Here you will find all the up-to-date research that has been completed, to view the research reports please click on the links below.

If you're looking for something specific which isn't here, please email research@euskills.co.uk or contact Rob Murphy, Head of Research, on 0845 077 7054.

Latest Research

Energy & Utility Skills Apprenticeships Evaluation - we need your views!

18 January 2012

EU Skills is evaluating the effectiveness of our Apprenticeship frameworks, measuring their success in helping employers meet their workforce and skills needs.

Feeding into the development of EU Skills' Apprenticeship Strategy, the evaluation will identify and explore opportunities to improve processes, increase take-up and develop new frameworks or pathways. It will also gather evidence to help EU Skills influence external Apprenticeship policy.

The results will feed into the development of EU Skills' Talent Bank initiative. Talent Bank aims to fulfil the latent skills demands of our industries through new training solutions and the delivery of an increased supply of skilled people into jobs.

Apprenticeships play a fundamental role in this endeavour, and the evaluation will play a key part in ensuring that the Apprenticeship frameworks are fit for purpose.

> More information on EU Skills Evaluation of Apprenticeships

Sector Skills Assessments 2010

Our 2010 Sector Skills Assessment (SSA) reports are robust and authoritative examinations of the skills needs across the UK's gas, power, waste management and water industries. They draw upon evidence from a range of recognised data sources and is combined with our own intelligence gathered through our own research, including our Workforce Planning Model, and direct engagement with employers and stakeholders across the sector.

> Sector Skills Assessments 2010

Working for a Green Britain - Future Employment and Skills in the UK Wind & Marine Industries

Working for a Green Britain reports on the current state of employment and skills in the UK's wind and marine energy industries. Produced in partnership with RenewableUK, this research shows that employment levels in this increasingly important aspect of the UK's power industry has almost doubled over the last three years, and that one-quarter of employers is having difficulty recruiting the skills and experience that they require.

> Working for a Green Britain: Vol 1 (February 2011)

The first phase of research focused on a snapshot of employment and skills in 2010 and was published in February 2011. Working for a Green Britain reported that for April 2010 the wind and marine energy industry directly employed 10,600 full-time equivalent
(FTE) employees.1 It also revealed that in the three years between 2007 and 2010 the large-scale on- and offshore wind energy sector experienced stellar growth, adding 4,400 FTEs, thus near doubling the wind energy workforce to 9,200.

> Working for a Green Britain: Vol 2 (July 2011)

This follow-up report investigates the future potential employment opportunity and the scale of the resourcing challenge in the UK wind and marine energy sector between April 2010 and April 2021. The scope of the study covers UK onshore, offshore, and small wind and marine energy.

> Mapping Renewable Skills: 'Green Collar' Jobs in the Power Sector (2009)

To meet legally-binding government targets, renewable electricity generation needs to grow by around 550% over the next decade, from 6.5GW to at least 35GW. To meet this challenge, a number of issues must first be addressed, of which none is more pressing than that of skills. With the economy faltering, there has been much talk of the creation of 'green collar jobs' over the next decade, but these jobs require the right skillsets, and in sufficient quantities. This report seeks to generate a better understanding of both of these factors, and suggest how the training landscape in the power sector might be better structured so as to meet these goals.

> Training Provision in Largescale Wind Renewables (September 2010)

This research looks to identify employers skills needs and to understand the extent to which these needs are being met through existing education and training provision. This work, with EU Skills working in collaboration with ConstructionSkills, Semta, SummitSkills and the Department for Employment and Learning, will inform the development of a strategy and action plan to address skills issues in the largescale wind energy industry in Northern Ireland.

> Engineering-related skills shortages in the UKs electricity generation industry (2009) (submission of evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee)

This evidence report to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) identifies specific occupational skills shortages that are currently affecting the electricity generation industry.

> Engineering-related skills shortages in the UK's electricity transmission and distribution industry (2009) (submission of evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee)

This evidence report to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) identifies specific occupational skills shortages that are currently affecting the electricity transmission and distribution industry.

> Renewable Sector Skills Analysis - Scotland (2009)

This report sets out the structure of the renewable energy sector in Scotland and identifies the skills supply and demand issues affecting it.

> Energy Skills - Opportunity and Challenge (A response to the Energy White Paper 2008)

This report, produced in collaboration with Cogent, NSA Nuclear and ECITB, identifies the present and future skills shortages and gaps and sets out the actions being taken to ensure the UK has a skilled workforce for the future. It also makes recommendations on how the delivery of skills can be improved.