News

Upskilling Plumbers and Heating Engineers for a Greener Future

East Surrey College recently teamed up with Energy Training Network to provide free, high quality training to practicing plumbers and heating engineers on the design, installation and maintenance of energy efficient, low temperature heat pump hot water heating systems.

Heat pumps are one of the most popular low carbon heating solutions, and this training, funded by Surrey County Council, was designed to meet the high demand for skilled installers in Surrey.

Currently, the biggest threat to the Government’s drive to roll out renewable technology is the huge skills shortage caused by the rapid increase in demand for renewable products and services. At least 27,000 heating engineers need to be trained to hit the roll-out target of heat pump systems alone.

The training, which took place over two weeks in early February and March at ISO Energy’s  new Heat Pump Training Academy in Horley, comprised two modules:

1. Low Temperature Hot Water Heating Systems

2. Level 3 Award in Heat Pump Systems (non-refrigerant circuits)

Joe Hannan, Managing Director of Energy Training Network, commented: “We were thrilled to conduct this training in conjunction with East Surrey College and Surrey County Council and to be working with people and organisations who share our passion for reducing carbon emissions and striving towards a cleaner planet."

Terry Downham, Senior Business Account Manager at East Surrey College, added: “We were delighted to work in partnership with Energy Training Networks and Surrey County Council to deliver this training to equip plumbers and heating engineers with essential skills for a greener future. ”

The UK's innovation foundation Nesta is working with Surrey County Council to test different mechanisms of financial support to encourage people into the industry and understand what will help get newly trained installers working on heat pumps quickly.

Oliver Zanetti, Mission Manager – A Sustainable Future at Nesta, explained: “Participants could receive access to financial support worth at least £1000 when they successfully complete the training by taking part in two research interviews over the phone.”

Future plans for ‘green’ training include delivering a basic introduction to Retrofitting Homes in partnership with London South Bank University (LSBU). 

Look out for details of this and other ‘green technology’ courses on our website soon…