Training experts appointed at Edinburgh energy academy run as social enterprise

What is being billed as Scotland’s first community-based energy education centre has appointed a pair of training experts at its purpose-built facility in Edinburgh.

Husband-and-wife team Ian and Carolynn Edgeworth will spearhead delivery of the Energy Training Academy’s range of programmes and workshops at the capital facility. Ian takes up the position of technical director at the academy, while Carolynn joins as manager, both having previously held similar positions within the industry. The two training experts have nearly 40 years of energy sector experience between them and their arrival completes the senior management team at the academy.

The facility will offer upskilling opportunities in renewables for traditionally trained domestic and commercial gas engineers, with the first heat pump courses scheduled for early 2023. Run as a social enterprise, the academy will also provide extended work placements for apprentices with the aim of providing youngsters a route into employment.

Ian Edgeworth said: “This is a really exciting project and it was clear from the outset what the vision was. These are real challenging times for the energy industry just now and it needs to diversify, so the academy will cover all aspects of the sector from the traditional fuel we currently rely on such as gas and oil to the more sustainable utilisation of renewable technology. It’s a socially conscious centre, also, offering a whole range of projects.”

Carolynn added: “The social impact side of the academy is fantastic. And as a mum of a teenager I know how difficult it is for the younger generation to choose a career path.”