Job Market Energised

Friday July 2010, 18:51:15

One of the UK�s leading energy companies has announced plans to generate around 300 jobs in Scotland over the next three years and safeguard a further 70 through the development of a renewable energy centre. The Centre of Engineering Excellence for Renewable Energy (CEERE), a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and the University of Strathclyde, will boost Scotland's growing research capabilities in this burgeoning sector. The CEERE will manage the development, design, engineering, project management, procurement and asset monitoring of SSE�s portfolio of onshore and offshore wind farms in Europe. The organisation will also research wave and tidal power.SSE is already Britain�s largest generator of electricity from renewable sources.The company is in the second year of a five-year programme to invest �3b in renewable energy projects by 2013.Niall Stuart, chief executive of the trade body Scottish Renewables, said offshore wind would become a multi-billion pound global industry over the next few years.�This announcement represents a significant expansion of Scotland�s technical expertise in this area, and is another important step towards creating and keeping high value engineering jobs,� he said. The centre adds to a growing list of such facilities in Scotland, ranging from the marine energy research site in Orkney to a carbon capture and storage research centre in Edinburgh.