Development of a Hydrogen Training Programme for the Welsh Energy Sector: Needs Analysis and Course Content

The threat of climate change as a result of fossil fuel usage, issues of energy reliability and security of supply, together with the impacts of air pollution on human health have put energy as a leading issued on today’s political agendas. The world has seen a rapid growth of renewable energy generation in the past decades. However, it has been highlighted that energy storage has become an
obstacle to the full exploitation of renewable energy sources. Hydrogen has potential as an important energy storage media. The combination of renewable hydrogen generation and fuel cell technology has the potential to provide clean energy for transport, stationary and portable applications. In 2010 South Wales was designated as a Low Carbon Economic Area (LCEA) for hydrogen and low carbon fuel technologies. One of the LCEA goals is the utilisation of hydrogen vehicles on the M4 corridor using renewably generated hydrogen. As an emerging industry, the hydrogen industry is currently small but expected to grow significantly in the near to mid future. Therefore, there is a potential need
for training regarding hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The work presented in this paper has been carried out as part of the hydrogen theme of the Welsh Energy Sector Training (WEST) project. It is focused on identifying and providing training to fulfill the immediate skills needs which industry personnel will require as a result of increased use of hydrogen energy, as well as on the creation and
development of postgraduate level course to satisfy the long term needs. The methods and findings are described and the development of hydrogen energy related syllabi outlined.