The European Commission recently launched the European Solar Academy, the first of a series of academies to be established under the Net-Zero Industry Act, aimed at preparing the skills needed along the value chains of net-zero technologies. The role of the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) academies is to develop learning content and programmes together with industry to ensure sufficient skills and workforce.
It is estimated that in the solar photovoltaic power generation sector alone, around 66 thousand skilled workers will be needed by 2030 for the EU to meet its ambitious renewable energy targets while ensuring industrial competitiveness. Over the next three years, the Solar Academy aims to train 100 thousand workers in the solar photovoltaic industry to address the current shortage of labour and skills in the sector.
Following the successful model of the European Battery Academy, launched in 2022, the Solar Academy will design learning content together with industry and stakeholders in the solar PV sector. The Solar Academy will also develop learning credentials, which will certify the skills acquired by people in its training courses, thereby also promoting labour mobility throughout the single market. The programmes will be implemented through local partners. These can be vocational and educational training (VET) providers, companies, universities or other education and training providers with whom the Academy signs a contract for the implementation of its programmes.
The Commission is supporting the launch of the Solar Academy with EUR 9 million from the Single Market Programme. The project will be implemented by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) through its knowledge and innovation community, EIT Innoenergy.
The Academy is the Commission’s latest initiative to support the EU’s efforts to achieve its ambitious goals under the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan, while ensuring that industry is resilient and competitive on the global stage.