Overview
The Renewable Energy Installer Academy (REIA) was a pilot project funded under the INTERREG programme as a joint initiative between Action Renewables in Northern Ireland and Sustainable Energy Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. The project was developed in response to the recognition that a lack of trained installers and specifiers was one of the critical barriers to the development of a sustainable renewable energy market.
The objective of the REIA pilot project was to develop structures for training, registration and quality control of installers in the INTERREG region, which is Northern Ireland and the six border counties, namely Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo.
During the pilot phase of the project, REIA developed training courses and a laboratory specification for training facilities, and facilitated the establishment of training facilities for Solar Water Heating, Heat Pumps and Biomass in four training centres in the INTERREG region. The curriculum for each technology was developed in accordance with best practice in Europe with the support of European experts in the relevant technologies.
Building upon the success of the pilot project, REIA has developed two new training courses in Wind and PV installation. In addition, a further 8 training facilities across the island of Ireland are now delivering accredited training courses to installers. The training courses and learning outcomes have been registered with FETAC in RoI and BPEC in NI and in order to provide training, training providers must be nationally accredited by FETAC/BPEC and also by REIA. Installers who have successfully completed a REIA accredited training course will have their details added to the REIA database.