Work is due to begin on the South Devon College's groundbreaking Energy Centre, which secured £1.2 million backing from the Government's £450 million Regional Growth Fund.

The Energy Centre is pivotal to the college's agenda to become a UK centre of excellence for the renewables industry, while also creating an estimated 407 jobs through the support and training it will provide to boost the sector's growth.

The college estimates that the overall project value now stands at £6.5 million, with a £2 million award from the Skills Funding Agency also providing the capital project with a major financial boost.

It has been confirmed that Westcountry architects LHC (Lacey Hickie Caley), which has offices in Plymouth and Exeter, will create the blueprint for the 18,000 sq metre Energy Centre, which will be located on a site adjacent to adjacent to the college's main campus.

The college's vice principal of corporate services, Laurence Frewin, said: "We are now on the design stage, with the first spade set to be dug in the ground in June or July and phase two set to open in mid July 2013."

The college is working with two key partners on the project, the Energy Saving Trust and Regen SW, who together have helped the institute forge links with major industry backers including Schneider, Worcester Bosch, SEMA, MITIE Group, Western Electric, Nu-Heat, British Ceramic Tiles, Havmain, Romag, Sunfarming and also the Torbay Development Agency.

With an established network of private-sector partners and technology providers which have already supported the development of the centre's phase one, the college is focused upon embedding itself within the South West renewables-led economy.

The college laid the groundwork for its Regional Growth Fund award – announced in April – with the opening of its Energy Centre's phase one, last February.

The college and business partners invested around £100,000 in modifying an existing building to accommodate learning spaces kitted out with renewables technology, to facilitate green-sector focused courses aimed at both trade professionals and students. Responding to an industry led-demand, these courses have now being successfully running for almost 12 months.

Mr Frewin said that phase two would not only gear up trades such as construction, plumbing and electricals to respond to a growing demand for renewables solutions, but help stimulate the consumer market.

The Energy Centre will become a working exhibition centre for green technologies applied to both industry and the home, which will offer members of the public the opportunity to discover more.

Energy Centre director Patrick McNevin said: "One of our main priorities is to get out there and engage with the community and manufacturers, to get the supply chain going.

"We are hoping that developers will come to us and speak to us about where they are going; we are keen to engage. It's about building a new industry."

With the Government's new Green Deal being introduced later this year and the Renewable Heat Incentive also due to come online, the Energy Centre will also raise awareness of consumer incentives and advise on available solutions and local providers.

Mr McNevin believes that the tourism sector in particular will reap benefits from the incentives offered by the forthcoming Green Deal.

For the renewables-facing construction players, the Green Deal will also open up a wealth of new possibilities, with, said Mr Frewin, retro-fitting key to ensuring that properties are as efficient as possible to benefit from renewables incentives.

The college is also currently developing a pilot internship model to place its NVQ students with companies working within the renewables arena, that will work along similar lines to graduate internships, which will be funded 50/50 by the college and employer.

It says that the Energy Centre could also become a test-bed for renewables technologies as they evolve from South-West based developers.

"I think we will be right at heart of the regional renewables hub," said Mr Frewin.