British Gas and the Welsh Assembly Government have announced that the UK's first dedicated Green Skills Training Centre will be opened in Tredegar in the South Wales Valleys later this year.

With JobMatch, Jobcentre Plus, Summit Skills and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council as strategic partners, the Green Skills Centre will train over 1,300 people each year. This will include specialist provision to help enable local, long term unemployed, people to find work in the emerging green economies. British Gas will also use the Green Skills Centre to train its new staff and up-skill its existing force in renewable technologies.

The Green Skills Centre has a key part to play in helping to drive regeneration, aid sustainability and reduce fuel poverty in a region where regeneration activity is centred on building local economic growth and eliminating higher than average levels of social deprivation.

-- Advertisement --

In particular, it will help the Welsh Assembly Government deliver energy efficiency measures to 40,000 homes, including the installation of large volumes of microgeneration and renewable technologies, as part of its Heads of the Valleys Low Carbon Programme. Achieving this goal would create the largest Low Carbon Zone of its kind in Europe.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan welcomed the investment to create a centre of excellence in skills training for the rapidly growing green energy sector.

He said: "The Heads of the Valleys was the crucible of the world's first energy revolution, which was based on fossil fuels and the Assembly Government is now working to ensure this area is at the forefront of the future energy revolution promoting renewable sustainable green energy and low carbon housing.

"Extremely ambitious targets have been set for the Low Carbon Zone where the ultimate aim is to reduce fuel poverty and attract investment to develop the highest concentration of renewable energy businesses in Europe.

"It is against these targets and this context that the importance of this unique training centre for green skills can be fully appreciated. We welcome the steps that British Gas is taking to support these ambitions by developing this centre in the South Wales Valleys where it will become a UK wide resource for industry and job creation while also enabling the Heads of the Valleys to become a leading player in this emerging sector."

(CD/JM)