The UK’s clean energy revolution is set to create 400,000 new jobs by 2030, with demand surging for skilled workers including plumbers, electricians and welders.

A new government plan sets out how employment in the clean energy sector will double to 860,000 over the next decade, backed by record public and private investment.

The strategy aims to ensure jobs are high-quality and well-paid while addressing national skills shortages in 31 priority occupations. It also marks the first time the government has published clear workforce estimates to guide training and recruitment across the industry.

“Communities have long been calling out for a new generation of good industrial jobs. The clean energy jobs boom can answer that call - and today we publish a landmark national plan to make it happen," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

"Our plans will help create an economy in which there is no need to leave your hometown just to find a decent job. Thanks to this government’s commitment to clean energy, a generation of young people in our industrial heartlands can have well-paid secure jobs, from plumbers to electricians and welders. This is a pro-worker, pro-jobs, pro-union, agenda that will deliver the national renewal our country needs.”

The government’s clean energy mission has already sparked over £50bn in private investment since last July. Major projects include the Sizewell C nuclear plant, expected to support 10,000 jobs, and carbon capture initiatives in Scotland and the North East that could create 35,000 roles.

Five new Technical Excellence Colleges will train the next generation of clean energy workers, alongside programmes to support veterans, ex-offenders, and unemployed people into skilled green jobs.

The plan also includes measures to boost pay, strengthen workers’ rights, and extend employment protections to those in offshore clean energy roles.

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