About
Who’s Behind the Hub:
A number of organisations are involved in the Hub, which is providing the solution to a number of industry initiatives.
Involved Organisations:
OPITO
OPITO – is the global, not-for-profit, skills body for the energy industry.
Up to 450,000 people are trained to OPITO Standards every year in more than 50 countries through 230 accredited Centres.
With operation hubs in four regions – UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas – OPITO is driving safety and competency improvements to benefit the industry.
The industry-owned organisation also works with governments, national oil companies, operators and contractors, offering a range of services and products to meet international skills needs and support workforce development.
Opergy
Opergy – Established in 2019, Opergy is a consultancy with a difference. Our multi-disciplinary teams help businesses and organisations to get started, scale up and become industry leaders.
Our team delivers expert insight and solutions to support our clients to make clear decisions that drive innovation, growth, and a positive impact on people, places and the planet.
We are a group of leading industry professionals working collaboratively with our clients to improve business performance and deliver benefits that support the clients’ aims and objectives in line with business strategies.
In addition to our core team, we are also able to draw on the skills of a wide range of associates, consultants, and partners to match the specific needs of the client.
Opergy’s service offer is designed to support a broad range of needs, from strategic planning and project development to innovation management and workforce development. Each of our service areas is supported by deep industry knowledge and a commitment to excellence
Useful Links Below:
Opergy Group – Creating Opportunity with Innovation and Energy
Energy Skills Intelligence Hub: Overview | LinkedIn
ECITB
ECITB – Initially provided support. The ECITB works with employers and training providers to attract, develop and qualify the engineering construction workforce in a wide range of craft, technical and professional disciplines.
The Journey
North Sea Transition Deal (NSTD), 2022 – The NSTD People and Skills Plan presented a case for a significant increase in the numbers of people needed to meet the future ambition of Oil & Gas, Offshore Wind, Hydrogen and CCUS. But it also warned of a falling existing oil and gas workforce and an increasing difficulty in attracting the right skills for those same sectors. Being mindful of the other sectors facing the same challenge and not covered by the NSTD, Opergy set about researching, gathering, modelling and finally displaying the data we need to make informed decisions on our future gaps and shortages across the entire UK Energy Sector, both offshore and onshore. Opergy was chosen to deliver Action Plans 16, 17 and 18 of the NSTD.
The NSTD complimented the Offshore wind Sector Deal, 2019 –The People section of the deal forecast that the sector will require a new influx of highly skilled workers by 2030, covering a broad range of disciplines and in communities right across the country.It estimated that offshore wind could support 27,000 jobs across the UK by 2030, covering all aspects of a wind farm; project management, construction and operations and maintenance. With the industry committed to sourcing 60% total lifetime UK content and increasing UK content in the capital expenditure phase, there would also be a need for highly skilled workers in manufacturing areas throughout the supply chain. Opergy were chosen to deliver the first 3 Offshore Wind Industry Council Surveys of the sector between 2019-2023. The knowledge and experience Opergy gained from this work allows us to accurately forecast the future wind industries workforce.
The Floating Offshore Wind People & Skills Model project was a groundbreaking initiative commissioned by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC) Floating Wind Centre of Excellence. Opergy was tasked with conceiving, building, modelling, and reporting on the results of the world’s first desk-based workforce model for a Floating Offshore Wind Farm. This innovative project aimed to understand and predict the workforce requirements and skills shifts needed for the emerging floating wind sector, which differs significantly from traditional fixed offshore wind. This accepted methodology allows Opergy to accurately predict the Floating Offshore Winds jobs and skills requirements in the future.
National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills, 2023 – This plan said that to meet demand from the growing nuclear programme and replace people who leave the sector, the UK will need to fill 40,000 new jobs by 2030. This is a step-change which means we must more than double the current recruitment rate for the Nuclear sector. Opergy have been working with the nuclear industry since 2021 on its workforce planning which gives Opergy unique knowledge and understanding of this vital sector.
Green Jobs Delivery Group, CCS Task and Finish Group, 2024 – Published that the direct workforce for transport and storage (not capture) could peak at approximately 2,500-3,000 roles in the period to 2030. Opergy supported this analysis and also undertook analysis for Europes Zero Emissions Platform giving Opergy unrivalled access to all the CCS projects across Europe to identify the Continents labour needs for CCS.
These National and International reports all outline the need for skills and workforce data and modelling. In 2023 Opergy delivered to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) a set of high power calculators to identify the regional work force requirements across all the renewable energies, using the expertise and knowledge we had built up over the years. This work allowed DESNZ to forecast the future jobs requirement in each of the 12 UK regions and gave them the ability to run scenarios dependent on the pipeline of energy projects and other variables.
Opergy have used this knowledge and experience to provide the information for the Energy Skills Intelligence Hub (ESIH). It is now the leading source of Energy Sector LMI in the UK, used by Governments, Nations, Leadership organisations, Developers and other consultancies.
Problem and Solution
There are Currently 884,000 unfilled jobs across the UK economy. 45,000 of these are in trades required by the Energy Sector, with a further 62,000 in manufacturing. A number of sectors want the same or similar skills to those needed by the energy industry, e.g. road building, water main replacement, domestic retrofit and rail.
There is now greater transferability of technical people between sectors meaning that there is greater competition for talent.
Although Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects are enjoying a resurgence in schools, the Technical & Operative careers needed by the energy industry seem to be less desirable to young people.
With the likely development of the Celtic Sea and the speed with which commercial Solar generation is growing, there are many planned energy developments in localities with little history of the energy sector and thus few current workers.
These trends, along with the need to transition our lives to a renewable energy model with electrification at its centre, means that a substantial workforce will be needed to achieve the Net Zero necessity in the UK.
The Solution:
For these reasons Opergy have been supported by OPITO to identify the workforce and skills requirement of the energy sector, now and in the future, so that we can quantify the workforce demand nationally and locally.
This will make it possible for Developers, Training Organisations and Government to understand and communicate the size of the challenge getting sufficient skilled resource is likely to be.
It will mean that Government and leadership organisations can implement cross sector activity to address the future skills gap.
Finally, individuals are able to see the future opportunities in the Sector, the security of employment and the breadth of other sectors that will be open to them.
Opergy can provide bespoke data and intelligence reports should you need it. Please contact us via the webform.
