A training centre for renewable energy technologies has been officially opened the North West.

The Green Energy Training Centre was unveiled in the Wirral by Stiebel Eltron UK managing director Mark McManus and Scientiam managing director Mandi O’Shea. They were joined by Stiebel Eltron owner Dr Ulrich Stiebel and CEO Rudolf Sonnemann from the business’s headquarters in Germany.

The £280,000 centre is a partnership between Wirral based renewable energy products manufacturer Stiebel Eltron, North West training provider Scientiam, and the Skills Funding Agency. It will offer formal training on key microgeneration technologies such as heat pumps and Solar Photovoltaic (PV).It will offer BPEC accredited courses to tradesmen such as engineers, electrical contractors, plumbing contractors, and heating and ventilation specialists wanting to improve their skills in green energy.

Commenting on the centre, Mrs O'Shea said: "When Scientiam set out to develop the Green Energy Training Centre we thought that to offer the best possible training on the most up to date technology we had to team up with a leading manufacturer. We met with Stiebel Eltron and from the outset shared a vision of what the centre should be and how it should operate. This is a great opportunity for installers across the region to develop their business and skills in a fast growing industry.

Renewables training facility opens in Dartford

A new facility has opened in Dartford, South East of England, to help train the thousands of workers set to be created in the growing UK renewable energy sector.

The Renewables Training Centre is run by training provider Able Skills Ltd, with backing from Mitsubishi Electrics UK, Polypipe, Domus and Heating Plumbing Supplies. It offers nationally accredited qualifications in green technologies, including solar, heat pumps, rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling and under-floor heating and installation, with more courses due to be added in the New Year.

Commenting on the the new facility, Jed Smith, head of Renewables at Able Skills said, "The centre outlines our commitment to providing green energy engineers a route to market," commented . "It is important the new generation of green energy installers work to the highest standards and have a support network in place to ensure the customer experience is a positive one".

Able Skills' training centre courses are all approved by Bpec, NICEIC and City and Guilds. Further courses in biomass, micro wind turbine, heat recovery and air conditioning installation will come on stream early next year.

The new centre is one of a number of specialist green energy training facilities springing up across the country to fill the skills gap in the emerging micro-generation renewable energy sector.

Glastonbury opens largest private solar-power plant

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis has installed the largest photovoltaic electricity generating system in the UK

The plant, which has been built on private land at Worthy Farm on the Glastonbury Festival site, will generate enough electricity to meet 80% of the farm's electricity demand, equivalent to 40 households and will save around 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, 2,000 tonnes over its lifetime. Excess power will be exported to the grid.

The system, containing more than 1,100 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, and covering an area of 1,500 square meters , is expected to pay for itself within nine years with the benefit of the government's new feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy.

Commenting on the project, Michael Eavis said: "We now not only do the best festival in the world, we also have the best solar power system."

Installation

The installation was done Bristol-based Solarsense, and the modules were manufactured by Romag in County Durham.
 
The grid connection was provided by Western Power Distribution and the inverters were supplied by Swiss company Sputnik Engineering. A loan to enable the project to proceed was made available by Triodos Bank.

Scots launch boiler scrappage scheme

 The Scottish Government launched a boiler scrappage scheme this week, which will offer cashback to encourage private landlords to install a ‘greener' boiler.

The scheme will be open to landlords with the most inefficient boilers. Up to 750 landlords can claim £400 off the cost of a new boiler via the £300,000, first-come-first-served scheme.

Average heating costs could be cut by a quarter - equal to £225 a year - for a tenant with a three-bed semi-detached house, the government said.

Housing minister Alex Neil said: "With winter setting in, it's a good time to ensure there is a good boiler in a property to keep fuel bills low.

"This scheme will offset the cost of a new boiler and help landlords make their properties cost-efficient and energy-efficient for tenants."