The Energy Training Academy (ETA) has announced the launch of Scotland's first direct route to becoming a low carbon heating engineer, addressing the growing skills gap in the renewables sector.

In partnership with the National Open College Network (NOCN), the Edinburgh-based ETA will offer the NOCN Level 3 Diploma in Low Carbon Heating Technician, a course currently unavailable in Scotland.

Initially, the program will be available to service leavers through the Ministry of Defence's Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) Scheme, a pathway mirroring ETA co-founder Andrew Lamond's own transition from the Royal Navy to a gas engineer.

The two-year blended course, including work experience, will equip learners with the skills to plan, install, commission, service, and maintain low carbon heating and hot water systems.

"The course is currently available in England but none of the colleges or universities in Scotland offer it," said Andrew Lamond. "By making it available at the academy, we are giving people pathways directly into low carbon heating jobs without the need to go through a traditional plumbing and heating apprenticeship. We know there is going to be a huge skills shortage when it comes to renewables. The plan has always been to upskill existing gas engineers but it is an ageing workforce who are generally not interested in retraining at the later stages of their careers."

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The course's initial focus on service leavers is a personal highlight for Lamond. "Each year there are approximately 1200 service leavers in Scotland who will be transitioning into civilian life and they are the type of characters who make good quality candidates," he said.

Barry Sharp, founder of Renewable Heat, welcomed the initiative. "Credit to Mark and Andrew at the academy for having the vision to take the lead in this," he said. "This is something that the industry has been crying out for ages. The current roadmap to get into heat pumps is to do a four-year apprenticeship, and then train on top of that so it could take six years for a young apprentice to be properly ready. That is not the roadmap for an industry that is growing exponentially. We need a pathway for experienced workers looking to change careers to come into heat pumps and help fill the gap."

ETA co-founder Mark Glasgow added, "Innovation was one of the key drivers behind establishing the academy and as an independent training centre we can pivot quickly to reflect the growing industry demand. We will be the only approved provider of this course in Scotland and it's pleasing to lead the way in this manner. Initially open to service leavers pursuing new careers due to the funding available, we want to grow it and have it available to more people. With the support of the employers, it will bring more people into the trade which has to happen if we are to stand any chance of meeting the national target of decarbonising by 2045."