SSE, the electricity infrastructure company, has kickstarted the careers of the latest recruits who will help the company deliver a homegrown energy system.

The Perth headquartered business recently unveiled it is on track invest up to £15bn this decade in Scotland's low-carbon and renewable energy infrastructure, £24bn in the UK.

The company estimates its projects will deliver 1,000 direct jobs a year to 2025 across the UK and many more through its supply chain, and it is already supporting more than 40,000 roles across the country.

John Stewart, SSE Director of HR, 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 in around 1,000 people a year into highly skilled good green jobs and apprentices and trainee engineers are absolutely vital to that.

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"These latest recruits will maintain and help develop critical infrastructure and I'm very pleased to welcome them into the business."

The new recruits will be deployed across SSE in a variety of roles from building wind farms to maintaining flexible electricity grids to transport more clean power.

Many of the apprentices will work in rural and coastal communities, providing high quality, well paid training opportunities which support local economies and communities across the UK.

This includes in cutting edge developments such as the world's largest offshore wind farm, essential network upgrades and hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydro-electric power projects.

Positions include apprentice jointers, linespersons and electrical fitters working on the electricity network in the north of Scotland and central southern England. Technicians in SSE Renewables will be building and maintaining cutting edge onshore and offshore wind including some of the biggest in the world.

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."

One apprentice joining the company's Renewables business, SSE Renewables, at a recent induction event was William Wright, 18, from Wick.

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've also always been in and around the sea growing up. I find the sheer size, scale and how it was constructed just fascinating."