A campaign has been launched to reach 30,000 certified heat pump installers (of which the UK is roughly 28,500 short) by 2028 and address the nation’s troubling green skills shortage.
The Heat Pump Association has estimated that 30,000 certified installers are required to reach the UK Government’s target of 600,000 heat pumps installed by 2028.
According to the last count of MCS certified heat pump installers – which totalled 1,500 compared to 135,000 trained gas engineers – the UK is still 28,500 installers short.
This means that despite a record-breaking year in MCS-certified heat pump installations in 2022, the UK must do more to reach its 2028 target.
The green skills shortage is a recurring concern within the UK and other countries on the road to net zero. A recent report by the New Economics Foundation for example, concluded that UK was “unprepared” to support the upskilling of the number of people necessary to create a low-carbon energy system.
To address this, the Energy Efficiency arm of heating and plumping merchant, City Plumping, has launched a campaign called the ‘Energy Efficiency Centre’ supported by Energy Saving Trust and GTEC Training.
The Energy Efficiency Centre calls installers to upskill by learning green skills and for members of the industry to make training accessible.
“This skills gap was identified way back in 2019 by the Committee for Climate Change, and it is one of the key reasons we’ve opened our Energy Efficiency Centre. The aim is to help customers gain access to training, improve their own businesses and to help the country towards Net Zero,” said Hemal Morjaria, managing director of Energy Efficiency at City Plumbing at the campaigns official launch.
“The Energy Efficiency Centre is designed to help transition installers across to new technologies and to display the technologies we have here at City Plumbing. That includes heat pumps, solar panels, underfloor heating.”
“Whichever way you look at it, heat pumps are here to stay and savvy plumbing and heating installers need to seize the opportunities presented by this market,” added Inga Jirgensone, Energy Saving Trust’s group head of business development.
“Any investment in upskilling will be returned with a constant and growing stream of business for many years to come, and of course it is important for the environment, too. As a country we need to address this skills gap as soon as possible or face falling further behind.”
In March 2023, the UK Government launched its own scheme to address the gaping green skills gap in the form of a £5 million Heat Training Grant to support 10,000 trainees to become “low carbon heating experts” by 2025.
