How to get a construction or maintenance job in the Wind Industry in Australia.

I get a bit of traffic here from people looking for a way into the industry as turbine technician. Now unfortunately it’s not a great time to be doing this in Australia – the industry is pretty flat, and has been for a couple of years. There are jobs around right now, but not a lot of them, and they are pretty much all regional, with limited fly in/fly out opportunities at present.

I should start by saying that there are two distinct paths into the industry, and two quite different jobs – construction and then maintenance.

Construction jobs are at the front end – the building of the farms, and so this work is reliant on the industry actually building new farms. But once there are farms being built, this is the easiest way into the industry for someone without wind turbine specific skills and knowledge. Wind farm construction needs civil crews to build the roads, crane crews to assemble the components, electricians to wire up the components and put together the substation / balance of plant, and plenty of trade assistants to help those guys get it done. There are plenty of guys who now have solid long term jobs in the industry who came first to wind farms through a trade assistant job in the civil or crane crews on a construction project. So this is the best way to get in if you are not an electrician or have a mechanical trade – find yourself a construction project and get on a crew. As I said, there is not much around at present, so the best thing to do would be to watch the industry press for any new projects, and then contact the construction company involved to try to get on.

The other site based jobs available in the wind industry are of course the operations and maintenance roles. These are a little tougher to get, as generally there are fewer low skilled jobs in this area. These jobs involve doing the scheduled servicing of the wind turbines (three or four days every six months), and then responding to breakdowns and getting the turbines going again if there are problems. Some turbines (particularly newer ones) are more reliable than others, so wind farms can need a rough ratio of one technician to every 5-8 turbines on a farm.

Wind farm operations and maintenance companies are overwhelmingly looking for qualified tradespeople, particularly electrical and mechanical trades. If you have one of these and you live reasonably close to a wind farm, it shouldn’t be too hard to get a start. The living close is important, because operators often want locals, who are more likely to stick at the job. So if you have a trade and live near a wind farm, you can just do some research to find out who the maintenance team work for, and get in touch with them.

If you don’t have a trade, it will be a little bit harder. Most wind farm operators will take on technicians without a trade, but would always take a tradesperson first. Your best if you have no trade and want to get into the industry would be to try to get a job on a construction project, and then show that you work hard and are capable with engines. The profile that operators will look for is someone who has messed around a lot with engines and machinery, maybe a farmer or a mechanic who has a bit of general industrial experience.

New Wind Industry Qualification Pathways for Australia

The wind technician qualifications are finally on the very near horizon in Australia. The industry has seen the need and started to be fully engaged, and EEOz, the electrotechnolgy skills council, have come to the party and is developing units and qualifications.

A framework for the qualifications has been developed and is shown below.

The proposed framework would consist of a series of graduated certificates commencing with a Certificate II schools/pre-apprenticeship stream and a traineeship with the aim of encouraging prospective employees into the industry. These qualifications will be generic to the power generation industry, with core subjects covering safety and basic work skills, and elective options such as working safely at heights, first aid, and working in confined space.

The Certificate III courses are existing electrical and mechanical trades certificates consistent with the current level of training most wind technicians already have but which can be tailored with elective subjects that will be aligned to wind industry competency requirements.

It is envisioned that the Certificate III in Electrical Fitting will provide the most appropriate apprenticeship qualification for the wind industry and this will reduce the need for external placements (required currently by some trades to complete qualification).

The Certificate IV course would comprise of wind industry specific competency units, which mostly have been drafted but yet to receive industry sign off

Each level is able to be entered directly with recognition of prior learning for existing skills  (ie trade qualification).

It looks as if the Certificate II and III courses will be endorsed and part of the Electricity Generation Training package in the next few months, while a working group has been established with good industry representation, to finalise the competency units to go into the Certificate IV.

EcoGeneration article on Wind Industry Skills in Australia

I recently wrote an article for EcoGeneration magazine about skills in the Australian Wind Industry. It is just a rough piece hoping to influence some decision makers in regards to funding of technician training.

http://ecogeneration.com.au/news/skilling_up_in_wind/063237/

Update on the race for turbine service technician qualifications in Australia

I was asked this week if there had been any progress made by EE-OZ in getting their turbine technician qualification off the ground here, and so chased up a few things and found out it is time for an update to posting on this topic.

However it is not EE-OZ that have made progress to this point, it is Box Hill Tafe. Box Hill Tafe have got their wind farm units of competency registered as part of a Diploma of Engineering Technology. The units can be viewed at the Training Support Network website , if you are happy to leave a few details and download the curriculum. There is a bit of a trick. It doesn’t seem to allow you to download the curriculum, but you can access it by clicking on ‘view’ when you get that opportunity. It is just the same as downloading it really, because you can save it when you view it, so this is the way to go.  

There are five units, with the focus on working safely on wind farms, working safely in wind turbines, servicing wind turbines, and accessing data through monitoring systems. The units are pretty simple, and have essentially been constructed by taking the competencies that most companies that have service workforces would train their staff too (for example First Aid, Work Safely at Heights, Service Fire Extinguishers) and sort of sticking them together.

So for those of you familiar with the Australian system, that means taking all the elements from the provide first aid unit, re-writing them with references to the wind industry and turning them into a set of performance criteria as part of a competency unit that also includes re-written elements from one or two other relevant competencies such as respond to workplace emergencies, and service fire extinguishers.

 I was consulted at the end of the process, and they are not too bad, considering they were put together from previously existing competencies rather than written from observation or direct research.

Box Hill tell me they are now working on developing training resources in support of the units, particularly online learning modules. I am not sure of the sense of this, as I am not at present a believer in the value of online training for turbine technicians, but it is clearly what they have been able to get funding for, so we will get these resources, whether they are useful for us or not. It really becomes up to the industry a bit as to how much they would want to engage in the development of these materials, but I can’t see the industry offering much at this point. We’ll see, I’ll talk to them when they call.  

What is a bit disappointing is that EEOZ don’t seem to have made any progress on their units. It is a shame if the momentum is lost there.

And I haven’t heard from Siegfried for a while either, either on the qualifications stuff, or just on delivering some training through the Danish Wind Power Academy, which I was kind of hopeful he would get off the ground (the training that is).

These views are those of the author only – not those of Suzlon Energy Australia

Training Needs for Wind Turbine Service Technicians

 

 I want to outline my understanding of the sort of training needed to develop a wind turbine service technician. This is important because while there are service technician courses and apprenticeships around the globe, there are no service technician courses in Australia. The technical and further education sector is getting interested, but does not yet have the teaching staff or the knowledge of the industry to do it. I don’t think this will take long though, as there are a few people working on this.

But anyway, if you wanted to be a wind technician in Australia, what kinds of qualifications would you need. To start with, it is going to be easier if you have a trade, and those preferred are electrical and mechanical trades. A trade shows you have some good skills, but it also shows application, and the ability to see things through. This might be a stereotype to a certain degree, but I am afraid that is the opinion that holds sway in the Australian industry – trade qualified workers are more likely to offer good general work skills as well as bringing their licences and specializations. It’s not over if you don’t have a trade though, there is still space for you to get in, but you must be able to show application to the tasks, and good general mechanical skills. Wind farm managers will tell you that the profile they often look for is a local farmer who has worked extensively on farm machinery, and is pretty self sufficient and hardworking. If someone is local, and good with machines, they have a good base of skills, and are not likely to leave for another wind farm job after you have trained them, so they are a good bet for training up well.

So, some of the basic stuff that will appeal to hiring managers in wind farms is

1.     First Aid – senior or level 2 with an up to date CPR – this is pretty standard, all wind technicians need to have this, and if you don’t have it and you get a job as a wind technician, you can expect to be sent to do it very quickly.

2.     Working at Heights – obviously having a working at heights certificate is going to be an advantage, but most wind companies will now demand their technicians attend their specific training covering emergency equipment and evacuation from the particular turbines to be climbed. Nonetheless, it is useful to have a basic work at heights qualification before you start, to allow you to climb on your first day if your hirer’s procedures allow. Those wanting to go further could get certificates in vertical rescue and ladder rescue.

3.     National Construction Induction – while wind farms are not construction sites, wind technicians will often be asked to visit sites that are under construction to assist with commissioning, initial servicing, and just generally filling in if extra needs to be done and the service site is running well, so you should be ready with a construction induction card.

4.     Current Driver’s licence – don’t turn up with an expired one.

5.     Confined Space – some windfarms have confined spaces, some don’t, but it would definitely be valuable to have if you were looking for wind farm tech work.

6.     Hazardous Substances – There are various hazardous substances on wind farms, and techs generally need to be trained to use the Material Safety Data Sheets, and be aware around these chemicals.

7.     Fire Extinguisher Service – all turbines have fire extinguishers in them, and you need to know how to use and service them.

8.     Methods of Release / Electrical Safety – if you are not electrically trained, then electrical safety and rescue is an important competency – largely because if you are not electrical, likely that the other guy up the turbine with you, will be working on the circuits, and if there is an accident, you will be the only one there to help for some time.

This would be a good set of qualifications to bring to the table if you are looking for a job as a wind technician, combine them with a trade and you are sought after. But there will still be more training in your first year, some of the things you will likely get are

9.     Respond to Site Emergencies – all sites have emergency plans, and most wind farms will want you to do more than just sit through the 45minute induction pointing to where the muster points are – they want you to know what to do if you are 80 metres in the air and a grass fire starts in 40 degree heat just upwind of you on the farm.

10.  Job Safety Analysis – The construction induction course will give you a sense of JSAs, and how they are used, but wind companies will want to train you in theirs, and tick you off as being capable of assessing the risks you will be dealing with.

11.  Manual Handling – every employer wants to be covered here, and will probably want to ensure new staff are across the particular manual handling risks of a windfarm. It probably wouldn’t hurt to turn up with it though.

12.  Disconnect / Reconnect – if you are not an electrician, expect to be put through this certificate, see my most recent post for more details.

13.  Turbine training – finally we get to learning about the actual gear, and while much of this will be learned on the job, it is likely that you will need at least a week’s formal training inside your first year on the job. You need to learn the electrics, the mechanics, the hydraulics, and the software and controls. You will need to learn to read the schematics, and understand the key functionality and components (pitch, yaw, gearbox). Further turbine training would likely follow each year either to deepen knowledge or keep up with the technology updates.

This is a pretty good list, but it doesn’t end there, because I have probably forgotten a few things. Further additions in time can be things like High Voltage Operation, Customer Service (clients like visiting windfarms), things to help out the crane guys such as dogging and rigging, and anything else your wind farm manager feels like getting you qualified in. As you can see though, becoming a wind technician does involve a significant amount of training, most of which is taken care of by the employer, because it is not easily locatable as a certificate or all provided by the one company or institution. But maybe this is only temporary. Please let me know in the comments if you think I have missed anything in particular

These views are personal and not necessarily those of my employer.

The Restricted Electrical Licence and why the wind industry needs it.

The restricted electrical licence is comprised of a couple of competencies around disconnect and reconnect of low voltage circuits, and the troubleshooting of problems with low voltage circuits. It is used by the wind industry to allow technicians without A-grade electrical licences to find and replace faulty parts in wind turbines, working only on disconnected circuits.

The licence, or atleast allowing this low level electrical work to be done by those without a full electrical licence is important for a few reasons. Firstly it gives a wider pool or possible recruits in the often rural and regional areas where wind farms are located. Secondly, it allows someone without an electrical licence to be still a useful member of the service team, able to do about 90% of the work required. And lastly, it gives a greater stability to your workforce, because it is not a qualification that opens up a lot of other opportunities for work the way an A-grade electrical licence does.

The important point here is that only 10 percent or less of the work done in the turbines, currently requires an electrical licence. That is because particularly the scheduled servicing for turbines requires almost no electrical work, and this is the staple work of the service technician. The servicing is mostly checking and tensioning bolts, checking key components like the generator coupling, yaw and pitch brakes and motors, gearbox insides, and then lots of cleaning. The cleaning, and the seemingly endless numbers of bolts to be checked and tensioned, tends to get pretty boring for electricians pretty quickly, when they could be wiring houses and doing physically easier work that doesn’t require 80 metre ladder climbs. Electricians therefor, don’t last as wind technicians, turning over pretty rapidly, and after a while there are no more in the district.  

The only work that currently requires an A-grade licence, is the live troubleshooting of issues with the turbine, and any upgrade work that changes wiring. And as the turbine monitoring software systems steadily improve, and they are moving ahead very fast, the need for live troubleshooting in the turbines will decline, leaving even less to keep an electrician interested and occupied.

It is true that the electrical systems in turbines are also likely to advance, and may well increase in complexity in the years to come, and this will be something that needs to be watched. It is also incumbent on the industry to ensure that the current regulations are not abused, meaning rules are not stretched and non-licenced technicians don’t push the boundaries of their licences. Clearly, any accidents involving work done by someone with a restricted licence will result in a tighter licensing and regulatory framework for the industry. But these two points are about the future, the current position does not support tighter controls on electrical work in wind turbines, and even if there is a push to tighten control on electrical work, it should be through a wind technician qualification rather than demanding an A-grade licence for removing and replacing components.

Licensed electricians probably make up about 40% of the wind service technician workforce in Australia right now, and as argued, they turn over faster than most jobs, and are often hard to find locally when your windfarm is as isolated as many in Australia are. If the licensing authorities wish to raise this percentage, it will clearly be strongly resisted by the industry, due to the significant staffing problems that such a move would create. There are just not the electricians living around wind farms who could be persuaded to do the work required.

The Critical Skills Investment Fund - supporting the wind industry?

The guidelines for the ‘Critical Skills Investment Fund’ were released a few weeks ago (comments on them closed last week unfortunately - so too late to prompt some more feedback) and this was something that the wind industry needed to follow a little more than I am aware was done. The fund is worth $200million and is aimed at the resources, construction, renewable energy and infrastructure sectors, and intends to help industry secure a skilled workforce and address the growing demand for trained workers. So it is a fair chance that some of this money should wind up supporting the training of wind technicians and others in the industry. However, I worry that the fund has been designed to support the resources industry far more than the renewable industry.

This is essentially because the draft guidelines for the Fund contain some things that make it difficult for my organisation (and I think others in the industry) to gain much value from the fund, most notably the requirement that the funds can only be spent on courses accredited under the Australian national training system. This means the fund would be worthless to us in two of our most expensive training areas, turbine training and project management. There are of course no accredited Australian turbine courses, as the national system has yet to catch up with this need (it is slow moving) and for project management, the national qualifications are seen as not being rigorous enough by industry generally, so therefor both our project managers and Suzlon globally would prefer us to do the courses aligned to the global Project Management Institute qualifications.

My other concern about the fund was the makeup of the board overseeing the fund – it seems loaded with mining and petroleum people with the chair of the board Dr Keith Spence, although a very sharp and engaging fellow, being a flag waver for carbon capture and storage who I have heard specifically say wind is not the answer to our clean energy needs, due his opinion that it cannot assist with baseload power. I think perhaps someone from the renewable industry (maybe from the Clean Energy Council) should be on the board of a fund like this that specifically mentions renewable energy as a target industry. I just hope they mean it when they say renewable energy is something the fund wishes to support, not just the extraction industries.