Sid Tumuluri
Head of Operations, Tyler Hill Consulting
The UK’s clean power targets need to be met cost-effectively and efficiently. This means recruiting specialists from overseas while developing and upskilling home-grown talent.
The Government has big renewables ambitions for the UK, setting out plans for the country to generate at least 95% of its energy from clean sources by 2030. Naturally, this is imperative for the planet. Moreover, the idea is to promote energy security, drive down bills, create new jobs and generate growth.
Why UK needs faster renewables expansion
However, we’re going to need a lot more onshore and offshore wind, solar, green hydrogen infrastructure and battery storage — and quickly. Also, 2030 is just five years away, and there are still massive challenges to overcome in a great many areas.
Sid Tumuluri is Head of Operations at Tyler Hill Consulting, an energy infrastructure services platform. Its team of engineers, planners, designers, project managers and finance professionals support the development and asset management of renewable energy projects around the world. “Unfortunately, the scale of the undertaking in the UK doesn’t match its capacity,” he says. “For instance, planning needs reform so that it’s easier for renewable energy projects to be built. The grid needs to be massively upgraded so that these projects can connect to it, and we need people with the skills and knowledge to build and deploy different types of renewables infrastructure.”
We need people with the right skills and
expertise to rapidly deploy clean energy
infrastructure at scale across the country.
Addressing lack of construction, technical and planning expertise
Crucially, there’s a shortage of renewables construction and technical know-how in the UK, admits Tumuluri. “Although there is no lack of talent globally,” he says. “For example, our specialised engineering and design teams — who have deployed renewable technology in many different environments and markets — are based in India where cost considerations reduced dramatically. The UK will need to bring in global delivery teams but also develop and upskill its own labour force.”
Planning is another area of concern because it’s a profession which lacks renewables specialists. “The scale of renewables projects which need to be deployed in the UK is immense,” says Tumuluri. “As a result, lots of trained professionals with renewables planning skills are required both in the public and private sectors to get these projects through the planning process.”
Prompt action to expand specialist pool
Tumuluri is at least optimistic that the UK is now heading in the right direction. “We don’t really have the luxury of thinking: ‘Can we reach the 2030 clean power target?’,” he says. “Instead, we must do as much as we can over the next five years. We just have to go for it.”
