Wick apprentice sees renewable energy role as 'a job for life' as part of SSE
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A Caithness apprentice has spoken of how he is "set up for a good career" as one of the latest recruits who will help SSE deliver a home-grown energy system.
The energy giant revealed recently that it is on track to invest up to £15 billion this decade in Scotland’s low-carbon and renewable infrastructure, and £24bn in the UK as a whole.
SSE estimates that its projects will deliver 1000 direct jobs a year until 2025 across the UK and many more through the supply chain. It is already supporting more than 40,000 roles across the country.
One apprentice who joined the company’s renewables business, SSE Renewables, at a recent induction event was 18-year-old William Wright from Wick. The operations and maintenance base for the Beatrice offshore wind farm is at the town's harbour.
William said: “I’m going into renewables and it is a job for life – it’s not going anywhere.
"Getting started at a young age, I’m set up for a good career with the company.
“I’m from Wick and Beatrice is so close to home, you can see it from the town. I find the sheer size, scale and how it was constructed just fascinating.
"I’ve also always been in and around the sea growing up.”
John Stewart, SSE's director of human resources, said: “We’re pushing ahead with our plans to develop a cheaper, cleaner, more secure UK energy system by investing billions in clean energy infrastructure.
“Right now our engineers and apprentices are working in operational roles and on projects up and down the UK. But in order to accelerate progress and deliver our ambitious delivery plans we need to bring around 1000 people a year into highly skilled green jobs, and apprentices and trainee engineers are absolutely vital to that.
“These latest recruits will maintain and help develop critical infrastructure and I’m very pleased to welcome them into the business.”
The recruits will be deployed across SSE in a variety of roles, from building wind farms to maintaining flexible electricity grids.
Many of the apprentices will work in rural and coastal communities.
Positions include apprentice jointers, linespersons and electrical fitters working on the electricity network in the north of Scotland and central southern England.
Scotland's net-zero and energy secretary Michael Matheson said: “The coming decade will be truly transformative for our energy sector – delivering further good, green jobs and benefits for communities as we transition to become a net-zero economy.
“Scotland is perfectly placed to become a global powerhouse of renewable energy and the number of skilled jobs across the sector and wider supply chain will only grow over the coming years.
"I welcome SSE’s commitment to playing a strong role in our energy transition and I look forward to this new drive helping more people into Scotland’s green energy workforce.”
