In this issue

Community colleges fill need for trained wind technicians

Iowa Lakes Community College built a wind turbine to cut electrical costs and started a program to train wind technicians. Students get hands-on experience operating the school's V-82 turbine. (Photo by Iowa Lakes Community College)

Job creation is considered one of the great fringe benefits of renewable energy technology, but sudden growth—particularly in solar and wind development—has created something else: a shortage of qualified employees to fill those jobs. 
Fortunately for the wind industry, some progressive community colleges are preparing students to take their place in the new energy economy.

Installation leads to new program

The Wind Energy and Turbine Technology program at Iowa Lakes Community College started three years ago as an idea to reduce operating costs. The Estherville campus had the twin distinction of having the highest electric bills and the best wind resources in Iowa Lakes' five-county service area, so the board decided to install a wind turbine.

In the course of researching installation, a logical question arose: Who was training the technicians to work on wind turbines? Al Zeitz, a site supervisor for GE at the time, told the board, "No one was doing training. Basically, wind development companies were just competing for each other's employees," he said.

Iowa Lakes recognized an opportunity to fill a gap while ensuring that there would be qualified technicians to service its new, 1.65-MW, Vestas V-82 wind turbine. Zeitz became the program's first instructor, and was joined the next year by another teacher. The program recently added two more instructors with engineering backgrounds.

The first year Iowa Lakes offered the program, 15 students enrolled. Current enrollment includes 45 new students and 22 students returning from summer internships. "We expect about 90 students to sign up next year," he said. "We've had to limit the class size to ensure the quality of the training."

Industry provides support, guidance

Designed to train entry-level wind technicians, the program offers a one-year diploma and a two-year associate degree in applied sciences. The one-year curriculum provides a solid background in electrical theory, motors, hydraulics and business skills, as well as wind basics. Students who choose the degree program also learn about meteorology, turbine siting, associated computer applications, component repair and management. 

The program is well equipped to teach students the wind trade. Using equipment from other electrical training programs, students start learning the basics and work up to operating the campus's turbine. Last year, Vestas donated a nacelle (the top portion of a wind turbine) and some gearboxes to give students hands-on experience with components they will find on the job. TriCo TCWind, a local wind repair company, contributed trucking to deliver the components to campus, and PPM Energy gave the school $100,000 to double the program's building space.

A paid summer internship at a wind site is part of the diploma program. Vestas has placed students on wind construction projects all over the country. This year, three students went to Ireland to work on a project for B9 Energy Group. "Companies encourage students to come back and finish their associate degree, and then offer them jobs," said Zeitz. "I've heard about project supervisors fighting over who is going to get a student after he graduates."

Iowa Lakes invited partnership from the beginning, and the wind industry has been incredibly supportive, Zeitz acknowledged. An advisory committee of wind development professionals meets with the instructors twice a year to discuss curriculum and shape the program's direction. "Anyone can throw together a curriculum," said Zeitz, "but to do it right—to graduate students with the necessary job skills—you have to get input from the industry."

New Mexico program to have O&M focus

Zeitz pointed to Mesalands Community College as a school committed to "doing it right." The Iowa Lakes program has shared lessons learned to help the Tucumcari, N.M., community college establish its own program, the North American Wind Research and Training Center.

NAWRTC will offer high-quality training for operations and maintenance and wind farm management starting in fall 2008. Technology Director Jim Morgan share's Zeitz's view that industry input is critical to a training program's success. "We are developing a curriculum based on industry need," he explained.

According to NAWRTC's 2005 feasibility study, the industry needs innovation and best practices for wind turbine operations and maintenance. As Morgan explains it, the wind industry initially focused on getting turbines up, while research concentrated on making turbines more powerful and efficient. "Now that wind is more mainstream, there is a need to pay more attention to the business aspects of wind generation—reliability and facility management," he said. "That's where we found we could carve a niche."

NAWRTC's research program will explore operations and maintenance efficiencies, wind energy storage technologies and other public and commercial issues. Sandia National Laboratories and New Mexico State University will conduct research at the center based on industry needs.

Turbine for work, research

Just as important as the research is the hands-on experience the training program plans to provide. NAWRTC is waiting to open its doors until it has its own wind turbine. "Our research partners need to be able to run tests on an operating turbine, and students need to know what it's like to climb up a real tower," said Morgan. "We'd be shorting students if they didn't get the experience of working on a functioning unit."

The college approved a $2.2 million contract with GE in July for a 240-foot wind turbine. Funding came from the state legislature and Department of Labor. The state has been very supportive of NAWRTC, maybe not surprising, since New Mexico has two U.S. senators (Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingham) on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Gov. Bill Richardson is a former U.S. Secretary of Energy.

The turbine is scheduled to be completed by the time classes start in November 2008, though Morgan noted, "It would be great to have a summer session so students could participate in installation."

Looking for instructors

In the meantime, the center must clear the hurdle of finding qualified teachers, a challenge Iowa Lakes has also faced. "We see two types of candidates," said Morgan, whose own background is in nuclear engineering. "Good teachers who know electrical theory but don't know wind, and wind industry professionals who haven't taught."

Another problem is that teaching salaries can't compete with what wind developers are offering technicians. "But we’ve managed to round up some very promising candidates," said Morgan. "Maybe some will see this story and apply," he added.

It isn't easy to design a training program for a new technology, but Iowa Lakes and Mesalands are willing take on the challenge. The colleges are being rewarded with a strong positive response from both students and the wind industry. After all, people need jobs in an industry with a bright future, and wind power needs qualified workers if it is to keep growing. And in between is an opportunity for visionary community colleges to meet a real need.