A Hydrogen Skills Academy should be established with industry support according to a new report, launched with the aim of futureproofing the UK’s hydrogen workforce and driving net zero ambitions.
Published by the Hydrogen Skills Alliance, it drew on its recent workforce assessment, setting out how 29,000 jobs are set to be needed across the hydrogen economy by the end of the decade. That marks some increase on the 1,600 there are today.
To ensure that can happen, its central recommendation is that of a national Hydrogen Skills Academy. This should be developed in partnership with employers throughout the UK, making sure local workforces are equipped with the specialised skills that hydrogen’s growing role in the energy transition will demand.
Then working alongside the Hydrogen Skills Alliance, government, industry and the skills system, the Academy would create an ecosystem to deliver a strategic plan for hydrogen skills. Working together, they will be able to improve workforce and skills data gathering, analysis and modelling; make full use of the existing skills offer, leveraging the sector’s expertise to ensure it remains current as the industry continues to evolve; analyse gaps in provision and develop a new curriculum in a collaborative way; and then position hydrogen as an aspiration career destination for anybody at any point in their career lifecycle.
Through this, they will be able to ensure that the right skills are available at the right time in the right place for the UK’s hydrogen economy to thrive.
