Issue link: https://read.utilityweek.co.uk/i/665572
NETWORK / 27 / APRIL 2016 SKILLS BOTTLENECK THREATENS DISTRICT HEATING EXPANSION Ian Manders, consultant and policy adviser According to EU Skills, some of the hardest jobs to fi ll in the utilities industry today include: site managers, project managers, power systems engineers, commissioning engineers, overhead linespeople, substation engineers and, interestingly, design engineers. This is concerning because energy networks are becoming smarter and more complex, which is precisely when design skills come to the fore. Skilled design engineers play a vital role in the infrastructure of energy supply. At its most obvious, they design, develop and maintain the power grids that serve the country. However, design engineers also have a major role in day- to-day delivery – their technical expertise in prioritising, planning and decision making affects the entire supply chain. Fundamentally, the designer's raison d'etre is to improve things. In the energy sector, they design networks and hardware that could be in service for decades, their task is to pre-empt tomorrow's problems and fi nd solutions for today. The current electrical workforce is ageing, and there currently aren't enough recruits to fi ll their shoes. The loss of more specialist and creative engineering skills, including design, could derail the government's plans for growth and increasing productivity. The Design Council preaches the direct effects of design training and coaching in achieving both of these goals in its work with hundreds of SMEs and local authorities. It is now essential for the energy industry to train and upskill its workforce. In 2016/17 we will be undertaking research into design skills being used in industry, as well as collecting industry views on the skills required for the future. I'm sure it will uncover some fascinating results and some motivating and practicable solutions to what is a potential problem for the UK economy. SORE POINTS FOR SKILLS John Mathers, chief executive, Design Council The government has serious ambitions for district heating, or heat networks as it calls them. In fact it has two billion pounds worth of ambition, which is the amount of investment it wants over the decade to construct more than 200 schemes sponsored by local authorities and property developers. That's enough heat for 400,000 homes and probably a trebling of the current heat network capacity that has been built up over decades. Will there be enough people with the right skills and experience to design, build and operate the new heat networks? Are we training enough people to fi ll the gaps? First some good news: the business of digging trenches and laying pipe is similar whether they are gas, potable water or insulated for hot water. Specialist skills are required for joining steel and foam-insulated heat network pipes and the major manufacturers provide training for welders. However, moving back up the supply chain shows the absence of training. Poor design and specifi cation is where the fundamental and expensive mistakes happen, such as oversizing and overcapacity of heat-generating plant. At present, there is an absence of university and college courses for mechanical engineers beyond the basic "introduction to district heating" level. The two- day Cibse course for the Heat Network Code of Practice is to gain knowledge of the code, not the engineering. This lack of formal training in the UK is an area in which the associations representing the district heating sector could usefully take action. The UK department of Business, Innovation and Skills should also take notice of the possible bottleneck, and the actions required to remedy this situation could be set out in the forthcoming heat policy being developed by Decc.