BP supports green skills hub to train Teessiders

BP is developing educational programmes with Redcar & Cleveland College that will train people for the greener industries being created in Teesside.

The oil major is providing £50,000 (US$65,600) for a new Clean Energy Education Hub at the college that will specialise in training school-leavers, apprentices and adult learners. The college and BP will develop a careers pathway plan based on skills demands for projects proposed in the region, which include hydrogen production and CCS.

Teesside is a major heavy-industry hub with some 1,400 companies in the region directly involved in the chemicals and process industries. Last year, as part of its £1bn CCS Infrastructure Fund, the Government selected Teesside as one of two CCUS industrial clusters that will receive support to become regional decarbonisation hubs as it seeks to create green jobs and capture 20–30m t/y of CO2 by 2030.

BP has partnered with other industry majors in several decarbonation projects in the region. This includes the H2Teesside blue hydrogen project that is set to have a capacity of 1 GW/y by 2030 and BP estimates will support 1,200 jobs during construction and 600 during operation. The CO2 generated by the project will be captured and sent for storage through the Northern Endurance Partnership that BP will operate. This will involve developing the infrastructure to pipe and store captured emissions beneath the North Sea. BP is also working with Equinor on the Net Zero Teesside (NZT) Power gas-fired plant that will also send captured emissions through NEP. It estimates construction of the plant will create 3,000 jobs and another 1,000 to operate it.

BP says the coming careers plan will respond to employers’ needs through employer-led programmes, with the college drawing on BP’s expertise and network to bolster opportunities for those entering or re-joining the local workforce. 

Louise Kingham, BP’s UK Head of Country and Senior Vice President of Europe, said: “BP is backing Teesside. It is perfectly placed to become a world-class, low carbon energy hub, creating thousands of jobs in the region.”

Jason Faulkner, Principal of Redcar and Cleveland College, said “Through our Clean Energy Education Hub we will be able to equip school leavers and adults, of all ages, with the skills and training to build high quality meaningful careers in the Tees Valley.”

Last year, lawmakers warned that the UK Government’s plans to create 2m green jobs by 2030 were not detailed enough and said it must do more to meet its commitment of achieving a just transition.