Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH FEBRUARY 2018 | 15 Granville Ecopark is the largest AD facility in Ireland taking only food waste as a resource and has the capa- city to export 4.8MWe of renewable electricity onto Northern Ireland's local grid. Recent expansion now allows the plant to clean up excess biogas into biomethane, which is being transported all over Northern Ireland to power combined heat and power (CHP) engines and create renewable heat and electricity for its customers. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paulnewton@fav-house.com Pipe up Nick Ellins Sector employers can look back proudly on a series of achievements initiated in the past year. The Energy and Utilities Workforce Renewal & Skills Strategy, released last February, documented how the energy and utilities sector will support UK infrastructure by developing a resilient and sustainable workforce – and pleasingly, much of this has come to pass. The strategy was created by the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership (formed of 29 leading sector employ- ers in summer 2016) and predated government plans to drive skills reform through pan-sector employer groups. Themes included the importance of the infrastructure sector, the skilled people needed to deliver it, the ageing workforce and the need for greater inclusivity. And since then it has stimulated initiatives such as the Energy & Utilities Independent Assessment Service, which provides high-quality end-point assessment services for nine of the 11 new English standards in our sector. Another initiative to spring from it, the Skills Accord, promotes structured and sustained investment in tech- nical and operational skills through commitments in procurement practices across the supply chain. And through Talent Source Network, 20 Skills Partnership employers are now offering hundreds of vacancies, includ- ing apprenticeships, on a shared online platform. The Skills Strategy's calls to build sustainability and workforce resilience have also since been replicated in policy: Ofwat now recognises the skills an organisation needs to run its infrastructure are a vital part of resilience and stated that "resilience in the round for the long term is a key focus in the 2019 price review". Notably, infrastructure has been retained as a theme in the changes from the ten Key Pillars in the Industrial Strategy green paper to the five Foundations of Produc- tivity in the companion white paper. This white paper has also expanded its remit in addressing an ageing workforce – another Skills Strategy recommendation. The Skills Strategy has received recognition from key stakeholders including Ofgem, Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Health and Safety Executive, Energy UK, the Energy Networks Association, Water UK, British Water, Future Water, IGEM, the Institute of Water, and the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management. Although we are proud of all this progress, more investment, political and policy focus is needed on sec- tors like ours that contribute most to UK productivity. Stimulating good outcomes for our customers, compa- nies and communities, will do likewise for our economy. Nick Ellins, chief executive, Energy & Utility Skills "More investment, political and policy focus is needed on sectors like ours that contrib- ute most to UK productivity." Operations & Assets "The Skills Strategy has received recognition from key stakeholders"

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