British Gas opens first green training centre

An area of South Wales is facing some of the highest unemployment rates in the country and is pinning its regeneration hopes on the low-carbon economy after a state-of-the-art green skills training centre was opened this morning.

The British Gas Green Skills Training Centre in Tredegar, South Wales, the UK's first, aims to train over 1,300 would-be energy-efficiency assessors and installers of new green technologies each year, as well as provide upskilling opportunities for British Gas engineers.

The facility was officially opened this morning by Carwyn Jones, First Minister of the Welsh Assembly, who said the centre presented an excellent opportunity to bolster Wales' green-energy credentials.

"Earlier this year we launched our Green Jobs Strategy For Wales, which aims to develop skilled jobs for local people, and the centre will play an important role in helping to achieve this," he added.

The centre has been developed in partnership with the Welsh Assembly government, JobMatch, Jobcentre Plus, SummitSkills and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.

Its location is apt, given its objective of targeting the long-term unemployed with training and qualifications programmes. The Heads of the Valleys has the lowest employment rate in Wales – 64 per cent, compared with 71 per cent nationally.

The facility aims to provide hands-on practice, and has been designed to reflect the challenges trainees could encounter as qualified energy assessors or installation engineers. It features fully functioning heating installations and energy-efficient and microgeneration technologies housed in specially designed bungalows, ranging from those with single-brick construction through to less common timber-framed properties.

Green technologies on show at the centre include smart gas and electricity meters, solar thermal panels, solar photovoltaic panels, combined heat and power boilers that use waste heat to generate electricity, and ground-source heat pumps.

Gearóid Lane, managing director for communities and new energy at British Gas, said the facility would provide a blueprint for its plans to help local communities reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs.

"We are investing heavily in this rapidly growing sector through the creation of thousands of smart meter and insulation engineer jobs," he said. "But we also want to help equip local people with the skills to deliver these emerging technologies in the communities in which they live."

Keith Marshall, chief executive of SummitSkills, said future employment in the emerging green economy depends on being able to access training that will allow people to develop the skills that will be required.

"The Green Skills Training Centre will play a key role in ensuring that this capability is developed," he said. "As a direct result, energy suppliers will be able to be more positive in promoting the green agenda to consumers and acting as trailblazers for green skills."