British Gas is creating more than 500 apprenticeship roles in Wales as it accelerates its green energy network including electric vehicle charging points.
The recruitment will see 525 smart energy apprentices over the next decade, with the aim that around a third of the vacancies will be filled by the end of next year. It is expected that half the roles will be filled by women.
British Gas said it anticipates all apprentices, following training, to be offered full time roles. The energy firm has been installing charging points at homes and businesses across the UK since 2012 with the current number at 20,000.
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There are currently 976 public electric vehicle charging points in Wales, representing 3.8% of the UK total with almost half (43.3% located in London and the south east. The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders said the UK will require at least 2.3 million charging points before the end of the decade, equating to over 700 chargers installed every day until 2030.
Once qualified as smart energy experts the recruits will be upskilled to install and maintain carbon-efficient technologies, including electric vehicle charging points, heat pumps, hydrogen boilers, and to provide energy efficiency advice to customers.
Over the last two years British Gas has acquired 3,000 Vauxhall Vivaro-e vehicles, representing the largest electric vehicle order for a commercial fleet in the UK.
With over 12,000 vehicles on the road, it has committed to them being all electric by 2025, five years ahead of the petrol and diesel ban.
Chris O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas parent company Centrica ,said: "We’re creating thousands (UK-wide) of highly-skilled and well-paid jobs to ensure that we have a workforce that can help to make the transition to low carbon both hassle free and affordable for our customers, and support the ambitious targets of the UK and Welsh governments to make net zero a reality.
“It’s important that we address the low representation of women who currently work in STEM roles, which is why we have a targeted campaign to attract and retain more female recruits.”
Deputy Minister for Climate Change with responsibility for Transport, Lee Waters said: “British Gas’ recruitment drive for smart energy apprentices and their drive to transition to zero emission vans is great news for the sector and our ambitions for decarbonising transport.
“Upskilling to deliver more electric vehicle charge points is crucial to our ambitions set out in our EV charging strategy and we will shortly publishing our Action Plan showing how we will meet our targets for more charging points.”
