Heating and cooling appliance maker Daikin UK has partnered with the Green Skill Academy and Quantum Group to train green heating tutors at nine Greater Manchester colleges, these include Hopwood College, Trafford College and Oldham College.
The ‘Train the Green Trainer’ programme aims to upskill 50 heating and plumbing tutors to install low-carbon heating technologies (such as heat pumps) by April this year.
Participants will complete a five-day course consisting of an LCL Awards Level 3 in the installation and maintenance of air source heat pumps (ASHPs), delivered by the General Services Administration (GSA), whilst Daikin will deliver its Daikin Monobloc Level 1 Installation, and Daikin Altherma 3 Level 2 Commissioning certification.
The green heat skills gap
Green heat, like much of the UK’s low-carbon sector, is threatened by a skills gap.
With a target of 600,000 heat pumps installed by 2028 and only 3,000 trained heat pump engineers in the UK according to Daikin, calls are rising to bridge the gap between green targets and skills capacity.
In September 2023, the first UK heat pump apprenticeship launched by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) received government funding to train 57,000 heat pump installers by 2030.
Skills shortages is not an uncommon issue in the green sector, as trade association Solar Energy UK and grid consultancy Novogrid recently revealed that an “utter lack” of network modelling professionals able to conduct power flow analysis has led to extremely high levels of energy curtailment due to a reliance on over-cautious methodology.
“Demand for heat pump installations is currently being let down by the lack of availability of trained and certified installers. At Daikin, we have the capacity to train more than 10,000 installers on air source heat pumps through our accredited and product related courses through Daikin Training Academies and through our extensive network of Sustainable Home Centres – and we’re striving to train around 30% of all installers in the industry,” said Martin Passingham, head of product and training at Daikin UK.
“However, greater training and support to bolster access to installers is needed. Our partnership with the Green Skills Academy will equip college staff and tutors with the tools needed to upskill a new generation of heat pumps installers and help fill the current installer gap.”
