The National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) – a programme of the Department of Trade and Industry hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – says that its industrial energy efficiency training will be forming the basis for a national qualification in energy efficiency, which the body is in the process of developing. The NCPC-SA has been offering training through its Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Project at user and expert level in energy management systems and energy systems optimisation since 2010. The courses were developed through the project in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) to build capacity in the skills needed in the country’s engineering and related fields to bring about sustained energy savings in the manufacturing and mining sectors, says NCPC-SA green skills development manager Wynand van der Merwe. “The NCPC-SA has positioned itself as a catalyst for the introduction and institutionalisation of green skills development in South Africa. This implies commitment to introducing new training courses regularly, aimed at addressing scarce and critical skills in the energy and resource efficiency field.” The training courses are offered in a two-day workshop format for the advanced level, and expert level training takes between six and nine months and includes practical in-plant training and actual implementation. Thus far, the IEE Project has trained over 2 000 professionals, mostly engineers, at advanced level and 77 experts. “One of the aims of the IEE Project is to obtain official recognition of the training courses developed by the international Unido experts. This is to be achieved through the development of an occupational qualification that includes the IEE Project content, amongst other learning outcomes. The Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority has been nominated by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations as the quality development partner to develop two qualifications for energy efficiency professionals.