Renewable energy company and services provider Good Energy has partnered with Wiltshire College & University Centre to create a new training facility as part of a Green Skills Innovation Centre opening today. The facility, on the college’s Lackham Campus, is designed to accelerate the development of the skilled workforce Britain needs to deliver its transition to clean, secure home‑grown energy.
The £500,000 Green Skills Innovation Centre – part‑funded by Wiltshire Council’s Shared Prosperity Fund – includes a bespoke Eco House renovated and restored in partnership with Good Energy. The facility provides hands‑on training in the installation and maintenance of renewable technologies including solar PV, heat pumps, battery storage, and smart home energy systems, giving trainees real‑world experience of the technologies that are rapidly reshaping how homes and businesses are powered.
The launch aligns with the UK Government’s Clean Energy 2030 ambition to create thousands of new green jobs, strengthen energy security and scale up regional skills programmes to meet rapidly rising demand for low‑carbon expertise.
A partnership to power the future
Good Energy will use the new facility as a training hub for its own growing engineering workforce as it expands solar, storage and clean‑tech services nationwide. The company, now one of the UK’s leading rooftop solar installers and a pioneer in renewable energy, sees partnerships of this nature as essential to accelerating Britain’s clean‑energy transition.
Carl Hogg, Services Managing Director at Good Energy, said, “Britain’s shift to clean, secure, home‑grown energy depends not just on technology, but on people. The Eco House at the Green Skills Innovation Centre gives trainees the practical experience they need to become the renewable engineers of the future. We’re proud to partner with Wiltshire College & University Centre to help build the workforce that will install the heat pumps, solar panels and smart systems powering the next era of British energy.
“If we want to cut carbon in millions of homes and businesses, we need skilled specialists who have the confidence and expertise to deliver it – and this centre is exactly the kind of investment the UK needs to meet its Clean Energy 2030 goals.”
The training facility includes teaching bays where students can learn how to install sustainable units such as air source heat pumps. It also has a replica roof at ground level where trained individuals will be able to install and commission solar PV panels and demonstrate how to monitor and understand the energy usage within the home.
The college will also offer short courses to construction sector employers who need to develop their qualified plumbing and heating engineers, electricians and builders’ renewable skills as demand grows.
Minister for Industry, Chris McDonald said, “Our clean energy mission is set to create more than 15,000 jobs in the South West alone by 2030.
“This new facility will help to meet this demand, providing people in Wiltshire and the surrounding area with the training and skills needed to take advantage of the thousands of well-paid, good jobs being delivered by the clean energy transition.”
Iain Hatt, Principal & Chief Executive of Wiltshire College & University Centre, said, “Partnering with Good Energy on the Eco House has been invaluable in ensuring it reflects real industry needs. Together, we will help students and employers gain the confidence and capability to seize the opportunities of the green transition.”
