Alternative power training centre opens

Maitland Mercury
Monday, 31 July 2006

An emerging skills shortage has sparked a new direction in training at a Telarah company, focused on wind, solar and water powered technologies. The Hunter Valley Training Company (HVTC) officially opened its electrotechnology training centre on Friday.

Based at the company's Hunter-V-Tec site, the new centre includes an electrical workshop, two classrooms and associated facilities and is designed specifically for training students in renewable energy.

A working renewable energy display was also set up, including solar panels, a wind turbine and a hydroelectricity area, which are used to power a water fountain, a stop-go sign, a battery and also return some electricity to Energy Australia's grid. The training company received $436,684 from the Federal Government in 2004, with the company contributing a matching amount to build the $873,368 facility.

HVTC general manager Peter Shinnick said the new training area had allowed them to increase the number of apprentices studying for their electrotechnology trade from 90 students to more than 200 each year.

The training will later be expanded to target qualified electricians entering the renewable energy industry. Mr Shinnick said the Federal Government's growing interest in renewable energies had opened up a new opportunity for the company and new career paths for the apprentices.

"Two years ago we identified a shortage of skills for new entrants into the workforce and existing workers in renewable energy," Mr Shinnick said. "There were no private registered training organisations and only some TAFE campuses delivering this training.

"We saw an opportunity to get into the training side and approached the Federal Government for some funding to help set it up. "We've also been able to offer this through school-based traineeships, we have 20 doing it at the moment and they think it's fantastic."