The government’s funding for a green investment bank will see a surge in technical roles in the cleantech sector, according to Zoe Bennett, head of Kinsey Allen Cleantech.

In the spending review, the Chancellor announced the government will allocate £1bn in funding for a green investment bank.

Bennett says: “The cleantech sector is forging ahead in size and strength. More and more investors are piling in as businesses and industries grow confident of the returns available from green business and it’s encouraging that the government is seeing the opportunities in the cleantech sector as well.

“We have forecast private equity investment in the UK cleantech sector to rise from £166m in 2010 to £325m in 2011. Analysis of the Californian cleantech sector has shown that for every £64m invested in the industry, 2,700 jobs are created. Applying this model to the UK the sector can expect job growth in the region of 13,000 in 2011.”