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UK unveils plan to create 400,000 green energy jobs by 2030
29/10/2025
News
The UK government has unveiled its first plan to create 400,000 new clean energy jobs over the next five years, as part of a major workforce expansion to support the country’s transition to renewable power.
The strategy, unveiled by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, outlines how the government will deliver on its promise to double the total number of people working in green industries to 860,000 by 2030.
There are 31 priority occupations that have been identified as being ‘particularly in demand’, led by plumbers, heating and ventilation installers, with 8,000–10,000 more needed by 2030. Carpenters, electricians and welders follow, with 4,000–8,500 additional workers required in each trade.
Five ‘technical excellence colleges’ will be created to deliver clean energy training, with £2.5mn in funding for pilot schemes in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire.
Oil and gas workers will be eligible for up to £20mn in retraining support, funded jointly by the UK and Scottish governments. The existing ‘energy skills passport’, which helps oil and gas workers transition to offshore wind, will also be expanded to include sectors including nuclear and the electricity grid.
In addition, the government will launch a programme to help veterans move into clean energy roles such as solar panel installation and wind turbine maintenance. Tailored schemes will also support ex-offenders, school leavers and unemployed individuals.
According to the government, 13,700 people out of work last year already possessed many of the skills required for key roles in the clean energy sector.
‘Communities have long been calling out for a new generation of good industrial jobs,’ Miliband said. ‘Our plans will help create an economy in which there is no need to leave your hometown just to find a decent job. Thanks to this government’s commitment to clean energy, a generation of young people in our industrial heartlands can have well-paid secure jobs.’
The government’s decision to greenlight the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk will support 10,000 jobs at peak construction, while Rolls-Royce as the preferred bidder for the small modular reactor programme will support up to 3,000 jobs. Elsewhere, the Acorn and Viking carbon capture and storage projects (CCS) in development in Scotland and the North-East will support an estimated 35,000 jobs, building on the 4,000 jobs already set to be created in other carbon capture projects in the North-West and Teesside.
RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Jane Cooper, says: ‘This long-awaited plan delivers on employers’ calls for a coherent government workforce strategy for clean energy.’
Chief Executive of trade association Energy UK , Dhara Vyas, also welcomes the plans, but adds: ‘Businesses need a clear, continuous and consistent pipeline of low-carbon projects so they can invest in training, create jobs and grow the clean energy workforce with confidence. The skills funding landscape remains heavily fragmented, and a more streamlined and simplified set of structures could also help improve the impact of skills investment.’
