Scotland: Staffing crisis ‘will hit green energy targets’

Scotland’s renewables sector is facing a severe staffing crisis which will throw Government targets on green energy into disarray, industry experts are warning.

Renewable energy companies have raised the alarm over a chronic shortage of engineers and other staff with enough training to man Scotland’s growing army of wind farms, hydroelectric power stations and biomass plants.
Industry experts say up to 4
0%
of jobs at some renewables firms are currently unfilled and Scotland will not meet its target of generating half its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 if the Government does not urgently address the problem.

With the industry expected to mushroom over the next 12 years, a report from the British Wind Energy Association next month is expected to warn of a grave threat to the future of the industry.

Sector specialists are calling on the Government to invest in more specialised training programmes or risk missing its 2020 ambition.

Scotsman