Building a clearer picture of Scotland’s future CCUS workforce needs

OPITO is developing workforce demand modelling to better understand the skills and workforce requirements that could emerge as the UK’s carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) sector moves from project development into construction, operation and maintenance.

While significant attention has understandably focused on the scale of investment and infrastructure required to develop CCUS, there is also a need to understand what this means for the workforce: which roles will be required, when they will be needed, what competencies they will require, and how far existing capability within the energy workforce can transfer into the sector.

OPITO’s work is particularly focused on the longer-term operations and maintenance workforce requirement. We are looking to develop a demand-led picture of workforce needs across CCUS projects and clusters, including how requirements may change as projects move through different phases of development and operation.

A key part of the work is understanding transferability. Scotland and the wider UK already have significant skills and experience across oil and gas, offshore energy, engineering, maintenance and other industrial sectors. Rather than assuming that CCUS requires an entirely new workforce, the modelling will seek to identify where existing roles and competencies can transfer, where additional training or upskilling may be required, and where genuinely new capability gaps could emerge.

As the modelling develops, industry insight will be essential to testing these assumptions. Through Decarb Scotland, OPITO would therefore welcome engagement from operators, project developers, engineering and supply-chain organisations, and others with relevant workforce insight. In particular, we would be interested in evidence or practical perspectives on anticipated operations and maintenance roles; workforce numbers and deployment profiles; competency requirements; the transferability of existing roles and skills; and potential workforce or capability constraints.

The objective is to build an evidence-led picture that can help industry, government, education and training providers better anticipate future demand – and ultimately support workforce readiness as the UK CCUS sector develops.

Organisations interested in contributing to the work are invited to engage with OPITO through Decarb Scotland, please get in touch via hello@decarb.scot.