Written evidence submitted by National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (HCC0013)

Skilling the energy transition

Perspectives from the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s National Transition Training Fund

28/02/2022

Prepared by Jillian Couto-Phoenix, Programme Manager

 

Response to the following questions from the House of Commons Enquiry on hydrogen and carbon capture in Scotland:


Executive Summary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


I. Background

 

The Scottish Government’s vision for a hydrogen economy in Scotland are outlined in their draft ‘Hydrogen Action Plan’  (HAP) which is focused on developing and delivering competencies in hydrogen production, distribution, storage and usage (draft action plan)1. The main areas of domestic usage will be (a) a way to balance time and place where other sources of renewable energy are variable, (b) for use in heavy transport and trains, (c) for deep decarbonisation of specific industries where renewable electricity cannot produce the required high temperatures, (d) decarbonising heat by blending hydrogen into the existing gas supply. The draft also presents a plan to develop the export potential of hydrogen to both European and International markets.

Skilling the transition – perspectives from the current transition training fund

Actions within the Scottish Government’s plan are focused on six main components, of which one is ‘enabling the growth and transition of Scotland’s supply chain and workforce’. It is anticipated that details of this across sectors, and on a national scale will be covered by responses from Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen team. Here we present evidence/information based on the perspective of developing and delivering programmes which are currently underway and part of the Scottish Government’s National Transition Training Fund (NTTF). The NTTF is a package of funding rolled out in two tranches, each lasting six to eight months. The first tranche (FY 2020 - 2021) was designed to enable individuals aged 25 and over and employed in sectors which were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to develop the skills required to transition into sectors with high potential for future growth, with a specific focus on sustainable green jobs and the transition to net-zero. The second tranche (AY 2021 - 2022), which is currently ongoing, continues to support those with employment impacted by the pandemic, but also extends to include the transition from the EU and the energy transition. Inclusivity in the workplace and Just Transition are also a part of these objectives. Thus, the NTTF provides an opportunity to understand the process of developing a skills provision aimed at transitioning a workforce during a time of an unprecedented number of changes. NTTF programmes were awarded to many institutions across Scotland. This report will cover the programmes awarded to the National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland (NMIS), and thus the manufacturing sector.

 

Manufacturing and hydrogen

 

The energy transition, which includes hydrogen, is expected to have immediate impacts on the oil and gas industry. However, because the manufacturing sector is highly interlinked, it too is expected to be impacted by the transition, especially with respect to both reshoring production and supply-chain development. In addition, in the case of hydrogen, the route taken to producing it , i.e.: grey/black, blue, green, pink, turquoise will determine which skills and expertise are expected to grow. As an example, green hydrogen, currently defined as that which is produced via renewable-energy-powered electrolysis of water will have different supply chain requirements compared with pink hydrogen, where electrolysis is driven by nuclear power. Similarly, blue hydrogen will require scale-up and supply chain development within carbon capture, usage and storage. A significant challenge for the sector is that technologies to enable this hydrogen economy are at various stages of development – mostly early. Therefore, to adequately understand the workforce needs for the hydrogen economy, we will need to understand the overlap and inter-play between innovation, supply-chain development and skills. This will all need to be done against a backdrop where policy to stimulate both supply and demand of hydrogen is put in place2 (figure 1). To add to the challenge, these will require to develop at pace to meet the 2045 and 2050 deadlines set by the Scottish and UK Governments respectively.

 

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Figure 1 – Innovation, supply chain development, skills and policy are all interlinked. Thinking across these will require joining-up to grow and scale the hydrogen economy.

 

II. What training is required to build a hydrogen-ready workforce in Scotland?

Skilling the workforce to respond to the  climate emergency – a phased approach

It is anticipated that the shift to net zero carbon emissions by 2045 (Scotland) and 2050 (UK-side) will be unprecedented and impact every aspect of society. Skills to get us there will be key and  Skills-Development-Scotland’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP)3 presents recommendations for this by focusing on six sectors which will be key to enabling the delivery of net zero by 2045. These are energy, transport, construction, agriculture and manufacturing. It is anticipated that the six sectors will be interdependent when delivering net zero, and growth and diversification within each are likely to have a knock-on effect enabling supply chain growth and development. This will invariably lead to  skills gaps, which will need to be addressed via adaptive provision. Collaborative partnerships across organisations will be key to delivering this. At this early phase, across all sectors, there is a need for general awareness of climate action and how this translates into greening of jobs. The CESAP has an objective of creating a ‘Green Jobs Skills Hub’ and has proposed a phased approach with awareness building in the early phase, with the provision adapting over time.

When drilling down further to consider the role of hydrogen in the energy provision mix , technologies here are at an even earlier stage compared with other renewables, signalling a greater need for awareness building. This includes areas such as a general introduction to the building blocks of a hydrogen economy, expanding on key infrastructure and functions. The immediate goal within the HAP is to use the existing expertise within the oil and gas industry and transition them to grow and scale up hydrogen production. Thus, even in the next eight to ten years the workforce will need to be reskilled or upskilled via greening of existing jobs, to for example, transition existing oil and gas infrastructure for CO2 storage or upskill technicians to include competencies in hydrogen fuel cells.  This could be rolled out as transition courses for electrical engineers  to help understand change to their practices and/or training in vital competencies in large-scale infrastructure and experience working within safety-critical environments (CESAP). The CESAP provides a full list for this sector.

 

Transitions in the energy sector are expected to have a knock-on effect on other industries to enable the scale up (e.g.: production of electrolysers - manufacturing, water for electrolysis – water and wastewater), transport, storage and use (manufacture of hydrogen-ready vehicles, hydrogen-ready boilers and appliances) of hydrogen. To understand this transition, we queried a hydrogen technologies company, Logan Energy, Ltd for insights to include as part of this evidence gathering.

 

"Consideration could be made to the following.

While many new job opportunities are expected to be created within the hydrogen industry, in the short to medium term there will still be a focus on traditional core skills and training e.g., in areas concerning electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation technicians. However, these traditional areas of expertise may need specific training relevant to a rapidly expanding hydrogen industry. Some training schemes are already considering the relevance of their training provision and how it may need to be supplemented to include hydrogen. As an example, the widely recognised CompEx Certified Training Scheme, which is common throughout industry, is already considering how to support the needs of the hydrogen sector. There are also other areas which we have spoken about recently, one of which is the need for specific hydrogen safety training.”  - Logan Energy, Ltd.

 

The hydrogen economy and manufacturing – potential for gain

When tackling net zero, manufacturing is a key sector and will therefore make a signficant impact. Within the sector, key changes will come with technologies that reduce waste, capture emissions and lower energy loss which occurs during various processes. Furthermore, the sector should be in a position to respond to increasing demand for environmentally-friendly, sustainable goods. These trends will require skillls in implementing energy-efficient/ low-carbon workflows (possibly via digitisation, and advance manufacturing) and circular design. Sustainability practice such as repair and remanufacture will also be essential. The CESAP makes recommendations for sustainability to be embedded as a core-competency within manufacturing education, while the current workforce should be armed with upskilling their existing competencies to include digitisation, advanced manufactring and sustainability. To this end, the NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy (MSA) is developing several types of learning opportunities to target learners at all stages of their journey from schools to apprenticeships, doctorates, job placements and upskilling and reskilling. The upskilling and reskilling provision are part of the NTTF and part of MSAs core offering going forward including CPD for Net Zero.  This also includes the development of the micro-credential manufacturing framework which would provide the agility required to address the needs of a wide variety of employers and individuals in the hydrogen supply chain.

 

When it comes to the hydrogen economy, there is great potential for manufacturing, but gains within the sector will depend on actions taken by the energy sector, i.e.: the knock-on effect of innovation and supply chain development.  Innovation, especially accelerating the paths of both new research and early-stage innovation down the technology readiness level pipeline will need to be the focus of research and innovation programmes.  This will include innovation-focused PhD programmes with industry and knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs). As a research and technology organisation, NMIS is ideally placed to lead on these objectives.

 

Specific sectors – Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDV)4

A specific example of an area of development that will benefit manufacturing is the uptake of heavy duty vehicles (HDV) such as busses, coaches, trains, and vehicles for the transport of heavy goods, for use in agriculture, and those than operate off-highway. These vehicles can support a variety of alternative energy sources, including hydrogen via both a fuel cell and a hydrogen-internal combustion engine. The manufacturing sector stands to gain via the production of parts and components for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, hydrogen internal combustion engines and from the production of systems and fuels. These include hydrogen production (stimulates demand) and fueling stations.

As with all these new vehicle technologies, although uptake is driven by policy to ban/limit emissions, barriers exist including capital costs, the availability of refueling and charging infrastructure, all of which hinder technology maturity and scale up4. This also makes necessary skills difficult to predict. However uptake is set to grow and the resulting skills required will, here too, be a mix of those adapted to include knowledge of HGVs. An important example is safety training both for emergency workers attending road-traffic accidents involving these vehicles and for vehicle standards agents involved with inspection, assessment and examination. For anything hydrogen-related, competency in high-pressure environments is a key skill and can presumably be transferred from workers in the oil and gas sector. Within manufacturing and systems integration, skills at both engineering and technician level will be required, with a competency in the design, manufacture and integration of high-pressure gas systems. End of vehicle life – repair, remanufacture and recycle or disposal skills will also be important. Similary, the development and delivery of hydrogen fueling infrastructure will require focused apprenticeship programmes in installation and maintenance to ensure individuals have a clear career path.

 

III. What is the long-term sustainability of the Scottish workforce for hydrogen power?

Although hydrogen power comes with great promise, the most significant challenge is that technologies to enable this economy are still at a relatively early stage and are competing with other, seemingly more tractable solutions (wind and tidal power). However, given the existing competencies in the oil and gas sector in Scotland, transitioning to hydrogen might be feasible, but this will require a sustained source of funding for projects that demonstrate joining-up of thinking, i.e.: shared vision and efforts across stakeholders directly linked to innovation, supply chain development, skills and policy (Figure 1). The current NTTF programme is a good example. This could be adapted to provide the same amount of funding over a longer period of time – similar to programmes such as the Catapults, but aimed at energy transition training and development.

 

 

An area set to benefit from transition and growth in this sector is the archipelago of Orkney, which is currently supporting 13 hydrogen projects (see HAP), including the Flotta hydrogen hub in Scapa Flow.  Orkney is also part of the Island’s Deal and we recently queried ASPIRE Orkney – the economic recovery delivery partners and SDS for evidence towards this enquiry (quoted information below). Our impression is that areas such as these are aware of the opportunities and want to benefit from them, but understand the different challenges – some place-based, that will need to be tackled.

 

“We anticipate significant workforce requirement to deliver these ambitious proposals and a need to up-skill people to enter, and progress, in the new employment opportunities.  However, we need a better understanding of the what (workforce), when (timescale) and the how (skills provision).  We also need to understand, and be involved in, work that is being developed nationally to address a skilled workforce.”

“There are other important interdependencies (housing, transport, education, etc) and infrastructure (work-based learning, education focussed campus, digital learning, etc) that will have to be addressed but the Islands Deal (£100m) development and recognition by Government of the importance of Orkney in relation to Renewable energy development gives confidence that a focus on skills development is a sound investment for all partners.” - ASPIRE Orkney representative

 

IV. Summary and conclusion:

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 2022

V. References:

 

1: “Draft Hydrogen Action Plan”, Scottish Government, November, 2021

2: “A very big balancing act - creating the new hydrogen economy is a massive undertaking”, Briefing section, The Economist, October 9th, 2021.

3: “Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan”, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Government, 2021.

4: “Skills for a low carbon Heavy Duty Vehicles”, Optimat for Transport Scotland, Oct 2021.

 

 

 

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