Britain’s networks sector has unveiled its first ever joint plan to turn grid upgrades into jobs growth and a manufacturing boost.
For the first time electricity networks and their supply chains have come together to build a Sector Growth Plan led by ENA and BEAMA.
If the UK is going to electrify everything, it needs to make sure the billions going into cables transformers and substations translate into British jobs British factories and British skills.
The interim report says tens of thousands of roles will be created across transmission and distribution from engineers and technicians to planners and specialist contractors.
This is long-term permanent work because the grid is being rebuilt for a clean-power economy not patched for another decade.
The kit list alone underscores the scale. The UK will need transformers switchgear cables convertors substations and advanced protection systems at volumes not seen before opening the door for homegrown manufacturers to claim a bigger slice of a global market now dominated by overseas suppliers.
Over the next six months ENA BEAMA and partners will map out how to turn this investment wave into industrial strategy.
That means a full economic analysis of the potential growth unleashed by grid expansion plus an action plan to build domestic manufacturing muscle and a skills programme spanning the whole sector from networks to supply chain.
This collaboration is a first for Britain’s infrastructure sector. If it works it could become a model for rail transport water and any industry facing the same twin challenge: decarbonise fast and keep the economic value at home.
Networks set out jobs plan for grid growth appeared first on Energy Live News.