NRC ready to play important role in Hydrogen Training Academy

Mel Higgins, Principal and Chief Executive of the College, said it would create “life-long learning opportunities”.

Officially launched recently by Minister for the Economy, Gordon Lyons, the new Ballymena-based Academy will support the development of a skilled workforce to take full advantage of emerging hydrogen and cleantech opportunities. It is being led by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, having secured a public-private investment of £700,000 from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund, the Department for Communities Covid-Revitalisation Fund and EP UK Investments.

Mr Higgins explained how the College would be involved in training or the Academy, along with Belfast Met, Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University. He said: “Our staff are currently being trained online by the University of Birmingham and they will then pass their skills onto trainees from Level 2 all the way up to Level 7, allowing progression through the range of qualifications.

“This programme will allow people to enter the workforce and upskill themselves for life-long learning opportunities and fill a skills gap across various industries.”

A consortium of key industry players involved in the Academy includes Wrightbus, Energia, Translink and Firmus.

Academy trainees will have access to a new state-of-the-art training pod based at Silverwood Business Park. The H2 Gas Safe Lab is the first of two Academy training facilities for the Ballymena area and is targeted at the NI Gas Safe Register plumbing and heating industry to provide a competence testing space for work with commercial level equipment. It is the first mixed-gas hydrogen-testing lab in the UK for Gas Safe engineers, with multiple systems to help reduce carbon footprints in houses and offices.

The second training facility housed at Northern Regional College will focus on the production of hydrogen through specialist training equipment. It will provide a technology familiarisation teaching space for all levels in the basics of green hydrogen.

Speaking at its launch, Minister Lyons welcomed the ‘revolutionary project’, which he said will support the development of a skilled workforce to take full advantage of hydrogen and cleantech opportunities. He said: “The Hydrogen Training Academy is a first-of-its-kind project which will enable Northern Ireland to fully maximise opportunities associated with hydrogen as the emerging leading sustainable energy solution. By supporting our wider ambitions for a greener future through the delivery of a range of crucial entry-level introductory training across several sectors...it is an incredibly exciting time to be able to be involved in such an initiative.