In a statement posted on its website recently, the National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA) revealed that it hosted Gillian Martin - Scotland’s Minister for Energy, Just Transition, and Fair Work - in Aberdeen “to discuss the success of NESA’s Just Transition Fund (JTF) project for the North East and Moray”.
NESA noted in the statement that it is on track to support over 700 individuals access fully funded places on energy transition focused courses during 2023/24. Nearly half of the courses have been newly developed and have been designed to align with industry’s energy transition requirements, NESA said in the statement.
The organization noted in the statement that it is also helping to better communicate energy jobs and career pathways and added that, with support from the Scottish Funding Council’s Regional Pathfinder initiative, NESA will be launching a pilot web-based energy career pathways tool later this month.
This tool will allow individuals to visualize their own route into an energy career and highlight the different pathways and training available, NESA said in the statement.
“NESA has made over 700 fully funded places available to people from postcodes in Aberdeen city, Aberdeenshire, and Moray over the academic year 2023/24,” Lauren Braidwood, NESA Project Manager at Energy Transition Zone Ltd, told Rigzone.
“This was made possible through an award from the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray,” Braidwood added.
“The Just Transition Fund project is now complete we are now looking for other funding options to build on this positive momentum and play our part in setting the future energy workforce up for success throughout 2024/25 and beyond,” Braidwood continued.
Martin said in the statement, “the Scottish government has provided GBP 1 million [$1.26 million] towards NESA’s pilot energy skills program, supporting hundreds of people access free training courses to transition to new careers in renewables”.
“It was great to see how successful this pilot has been,” Martin added.
“Sustainable low carbon jobs are a vital part of our future and we will support workers in the North East of Scotland as part of our transition to net-zero, which will have a positive impact on our climate and deliver a fair, green, and growing economy,” Martin continued.
Professor Paul de Leeuw, Chair of the NESA Board, said in the statement, “NESA has made huge strides in energy skills development since its beginnings in 2021”.
“We have been absolutely delighted with the funding from the Just Transition Fund and to see the huge uptake from over 700 professionals for transition training during 2023/24 on over 37 energy courses and programs,” he added.
“We are now looking forward to building on this positive momentum and funding to play our part in setting the future energy workforce up for success throughout 2024/25 and beyond,” he continued.
NESA was established in Aberdeen in July 2021 to prepare the workforce for the energy transition and to provide access to new skills and capabilities required for delivering the net zero agenda, the statement notes.
NESA is a collaboration between Robert Gordon University, the University of Aberdeen, and the North East of Scotland College and is supported by key regional partners, including Energy Transition Zone Ltd and Skills Development Scotland, it adds.
In a statement posted on its site in October 2022, NESA announced that it had been awarded GBP 1 million grant funding through the Scottish government’s JTF “to conduct an exciting new Pilot Energy Transition Skills project”.
“Over the coming two years, this funding will enable NESA to determine the skills required to meet the needs of a just energy transition,” the organization said in that statement, adding that “the research and development project will leverage the North East of Scotland’s leading academic institutions to assess the energy transition skills landscape from now until 2030, and design pilot training programs”.
NESA noted at the time that the pilot programs will support people in joining the energy transition by creating accessible, demand-driven courses to attract new entrants, re-skilling opportunities for people impacted by redundancy or transferring from other sectors such as oil and gas, and up-skilling options to improve regional job retention.
“The pilot scheme will be a testing ground for innovative and novel delivery methods and pave the way for future large-scale programs,” it added.
“This project will help establish Scotland’s North East and Moray as an energy transition hub, bringing further investment and opportunities to the regions’ workforce and communities,” it continued.
In December 2022, NESA announced the launch of its North East Regional Pathfinder project “to create an Energy Transition Skills Interactive Pathway Tool”.
“Skills demands are developing as a result of energy transition, creating a complex landscape for people looking to join, transfer to, or progress within the energy industry,” NESA said in a statement posted on its site at the time.
“This pilot will develop an interactive pathway tool enabling individuals to identify qualifications needed for specific jobs in the low-carbon energy sector by streamlining and outlining available options to undertake these qualifications in the region,” it added.
“By communicating clear routes by which students can follow a rewarding career in the renewable energy sector, the interactive pathway tool aims to promote opportunities for employees to reskill and upskill, as well as for people to enter the sector,” it continued.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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