An extra 250 Hunter apprentices a year will acquire skills at the newly created Tafe Centre of Excellence at Tighes Hill, which they will apply in the rapidly emerging net zero economy.
NSW Tafe will also recruit extra teachers to work at the centre, which has received $60million federal-state funding over four years.
Courses developed at the Tighes Hill will be taught across Australia.
"We've already got a lot of people doing traditional apprenticeships in this space so we'll be looking at boosting that with the higher apprenticeships," NSW Minister for Skills and Tafe Steve Whan said.
"And then there'll be a range of short course options, things like micro skills. So if you're already in the industry, if you're an electrician and you want to up-skill to work in some of these net zero areas, there's probably a micro skill or an additional credential, which we'll be able to offer you here."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited AGL's clean energy hub at the site of the former Liddell Power Station as an example of a project that would benefit from the centre.
The $1 billion-plus portfolio of industries includes clean energy and firming technologies, coal ash recycling, green metals and advanced manufacturing.
In addition, solar panel manufacturer SunDrive signed a memorandum of understanding with AGL in March to establish a manufacturing facility at the site as part of the federal government's $1 billion Sunshot program.
"We are very confident that you will see investment, and you are seeing that at the Liddell site across a range of areas. As (Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen) has said, when you look at the transition to net zero, there is no country you'd rather be than Australia because of the resources that we have in the sky, with the best solar resources in the world and the resources that we have under the ground," Mr Albanese said.
TAFE Energy Centre of Excellence's business case recommended the Australian and NSW Governments, with TAFE NSW, urgently assess the establishment of a Tighes Hill Energy Centre of Excellence.
Hunter Jobs Alliance organiser Sam Wilkins said the centre would play a critical role in addressing a critical worker shortage in net zero industries.
"The business case identified that the urgent build out of renewable energy in Western NSW over the next 5-10 years is at serious risk of being delayed by skills shortages, and that potential growth industries like offshore wind, hydrogen and renewable manufacturing need access to a skilled workforce to attract investment to NSW and the Hunter," he said.
"The business case pointed to the Tighes Hill campus as well located for a Centre of Excellence, as it is adjacent to population centres providing a high volume of enrolments, accessible to the state's main Renewable Energy Zones in the Central West and New England and next to national scale growth industries such offshore wind, hydrogen and component manufacturing."
Hunter Business chief executive Bob Hawes the new centre of excellence was established in the Hunter.
"After mining, Manufacturing is the second biggest contributor to the gross domestic product of the Hunter region. The initiative announced today is well grounded in the fact that it builds on an existing strength of the region, a sector which has the capacity and capability to make an even greater contribution in the future," he said.
"It's important we just don't talk about the new net zero economy as if it exists in a vacuum. Integration into existing economic and social frameworks is vital for industry and workforce transformation and in many cases, this is not a big shift."
