Targeting the UK power system to achieve net zero by 2035, the Government published a landmark Net Zero Strategy in the lead up to the COP26 climate change conference, held in Glasgow. The strategy places green energy as a core requirement for the UK to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Electrotechnical engineers are remarkably well placed to help deliver a net zero carbon UK by 2050, with the ECA supporting its members and the wider electrotechnical sector to turn the Government’s words into action.
While there are new opportunities being presented by the proposed investment and support for clean electricity, there are new challenges too. Ensuring safety regulations evolve during this period of rapid transformation is something the ECA is focussed on.
Mike Smith, Technical Director for the ECA, explains the impact that net zero targets are having on safety considerations for the electrotechnical sector, and how the ECA can help.
Q: How are the Government’s net zero targets impacting safety considerations for the electrotechnical sector?
MS: Whilst the government has set a target for net zero by 2050, there are supplementary targets for 2030 and 2035, reducing carbon against 1990 emissions to 68% and then 78%. So that provides a real challenge for us in the short term, certainly coming out of recession.
We have material issues in terms of supply labour issues and cost issues. The industry needs to react, but the economic environment makes that quite difficult for investment. In terms of safety itself, it’s about really getting the number of people required on the ground with the requisite and required training, skills and knowledge to provide those services safely.
Q: How do you see the safety policy framework itself changing and evolving over the next few years?
MS: There have been some significant changes in terms of safety. Furthermore, there are secondary legislation requirements that are in draft form which require the clients and duty holders to appoint competent people within construction. So that’s going to be an important future requirement that we all should meet.
Q: What does that mean in practical terms for your members?
MS: What we try and do is inform them of the technology changes, the products that are available and the standards that are coming through. We’re informing our members of legislation changes and the competence requirements, it allows them to think about the future, how many people they will need, and the training that’s required.
Q: How do you create the balance between this rapid transformation and the safety that you need to ensure for your professionals and your customers?
MS: What we need to do is create robust standards and regulation around the safety of net zero carbon, and also ensure that new entrants to the market comply with those. Where there is that demand, there’s always the temptation for others to come in and undercut or cut corners.
Q: What is the ECA doing to enable your members to hardwire safety into this transition to net zero?
MS: We need to have a multi-tiered approach to make sure that it’s systematically included in their thinking about net zero. We need that knowledge and understanding of the technology and products out there. We also need certification of those companies carrying out the works, through audits and UCAS accreditation. We need training that’s robust and can be done as quickly as possible, as safely as possible, and we also need enforcement and redress for the customers when things go wrong.
The challenge for us is how we do that as quickly as possible to meet those net zero targets. And that is a challenge for an industry that hasn’t brought enough people in to the trade over the last 5-10 years. The electrotechnical sector already has a skills shortage, but now needs to gear up for this new technology. It is a challenge, but it’s a challenge that we want to face head on.
We’ve created a new apprenticeship for domestic electricians, which incorporates net zero carbon, we’re providing the tools to get people in. But we need to attract new people. We need people that might normally choose to go to university, but decide instead to pick up a trade and contribute to environmental sustainability.