The centre was supported by Federal Government funding to help ease a skills shortage in the industry, said GippsTAFE Business Development Consultant Noel Sutcliffe.
“The gas industry is not attracting enough young people as there is no training pathway or apprenticeship,”? said Mr Sutcliffe.
“What we do here has traditionally grown from the power industry and we represent the training of the line workers, the people who work in the field, for the gas, oil and power companies.”?
The centre, which will continue operations in portable classrooms until the redevelopment has been completed, primarily trains students for distribution networks. It is also increasingly being asked to train people for pipeline management, said Mr Sutcliffe.