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The renewable energy sector has launched a £1.2m training initiative backed by government and businesses to help close a looming skills gap that some experts believe could derail efforts to meet the UK's renewable energy targets.

Business Secretary Vince Cable confirmed yesterday that £580,000 will be awarded from the Growth and Innovation Fund to help trade body RenewableUK set up the Renewables Training Network (RTN).

The project is also being funded by £600,000 from renewable energy firms, including Danish utility Dong Energy, RWE Npower renewables and RES Group.

Under the scheme, employers, universities and colleges will work together to create 2,000 places on dedicated training courses, tailored to those wanting to move into the renewables sector, such as skilled workers from other industries wishing to retrain.

Cable confirmed Renewable-UK's funding as part of an £11m package designed to boost skills shortages across a range of sectors, including environmental industries and nuclear power.

More than £900,000 was awarded to help set up a National Skills Academy for Nuclear to deliver a specific skills training system for nuclear operators and firms manufacturing nuclear components.

Meanwhile, nearly £50,000 was awarded to help Lantra develop a new Professional Standards Framework in the environmental services sector.

Commenting on the RTN, Christian T. Skakkebæk, vice president of Dong Energy UK Renewables, explained that the initiative is critical to the success of the UK's plans to install thousands of wind turbines off the coast.

"The UK is marching forward with a significant programme of new wind farms, and we need to make sure the skills base grows with that. As one of the largest wind operators and developers in the UK, it's very important for us to invest in initiatives like the RTN," he said.

"We will be actively involved in helping develop the organisation and the training programme together with the other partners."

Gary Robinson, group head of human resources at RES Group, agreed that collaboration across the industry is vital to the success of the skills programme.

"The inevitable shortage of people with the right mix of skills and experience in critical disciplines threatens our ability to meet the challenging targets we are all facing," he said. "The RTN will have a significant impact on our ability to plug this skills gap."

A Renewable-UK spokesman told BusinessGreen that the network's new chairman will be announced at the end of this month during the organisation's annual conference. Courses are then expected to be launched in the coming months.

"It's quite a quick process to start up because a lot of the people doing this, such as Dong, are already involved in training," he said.