7 February 2008

Wind-turbine technician training tops

The growth of wind farms in the U.S. is sapping the supply of technicians to keep them running.

The Associated Press reported from Kansas, “Finding experienced techs is impossible with wind growing as fast as it is. You get one year’s worth of experience, and it’s like dog years.”

This from Jason Martinson, who is supervising a 56-turbine operation on behalf of Enel North America Inc., near Lincoln, Kans.

After almost a decade in the industry, he still is amazed by how fast wind farms like his present posting at Smoky Hills are going up across the country. However, he also said workers like those braving the blizzard-like conditions outside his office are becoming increasingly rare.

Wind farms have taken off amid concerns over greenhouse gases produced by coal-fired electric plants and the increasing cost of natural gas and other petroleum products.

Some states have encouraged their development by requiring a certain portion of their future energy be from renewable resources.

Last year, wind farms installed almost 3,200 turbines, boosting the nation’s wind energy capacity by 45% and cranking out an additional 5,200 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes for a year.

The industry, which now accounts for a little more than 1% of the U.S. electric supply, expects to repeat that surge in 2008.

However, wind power officials see a much larger obstacle coming in the form of its own work force, a highly specialized group of technicians that combine working knowledge of mechanics, hydraulics, computers, and meteorology with the willingness to climb 200 feet in the air in all kinds of weather.

That work force is not keeping up with the future demand, partly because the industry is so new that the oldest independent training programs are less than five years old.