Government is to provide free training for people looking to work in the energy industry.

Walter Roban, the minister for home affairs, announced the launch of a new course at a press conference last week.

Mr Roban said that a five-day course was completed by 20 students last week – but was so massively oversubscribed that Government decided to lay on further training opportunities.

Mr Roban said: “These training spots were hotly contested, with over 150 applicants, but space was unfortunately only for 20.

“Understanding that many applied that did not meet the essential criteria for this particular course – of having electrical or construction experience in their backgrounds – the ministry of home affairs has decided to help to fix this challenge through the department of energy.

“I am pleased to announce today the initiative the department will be undertaking with the Construction Association of Bermuda. A course of study through the National Centre for Construction Education and Research, will be offered this fall.”

Mr Roban said the new course will require more than 200 hours of study over a period of three months.

Those with no training or experience in the building trades are invited to apply, although Mr Roban said that priority will be given to the unemployed and underemployed.

“We will consider suitable candidates as the space permits,” he added.

Students who complete the course will receive a Level One solar installer qualification.

Mr Roban said: “This training will stand students in very good stead whether or not they focus exclusively on solar installations. The best part of it is it will be offered free-of-charge

“Effectively immediately until August 31 I would ask that those who are interested submit your request only once include your name, contact information and brief description of your current situation to energy@gov.bm.”

Those who unsuccessfully applied for last week’s course need not apply again as they will be automatically put forward for the new course.

Mr Roban said that Government planned for up to 90 per cent of energy being supplied by renewables by 2035.

He said: “One of the visions that Government has embraced goes back to when we devised an energy policy back in 2011. In that policy we envisioned hundreds of job opportunities for the energy industry.

“That creates a great opportunity for investment and diversification. There could be thousands of producers of energy in Bermuda.

“There are 6.5 megawatts of solar potential generation that we could deploy through solar, so that’s thousands of homes. That means the energy industry is really an industry for investment, job growth and diversification.”

As an illustration of the growing demand for solar energy, Bermuda College’s Tech Hall could soon be bolstered with an array of solar panels, according to a recent planning application.

The application, submitted by Be Solar on behalf of the school, proposes the instillation of 272 solar panels on the roof of the Paget building.

The proposed array would cover 5,806 sqft and generate a combined 108.8kW of energy.