New US Wind Technicians Trained In Oregon

A National Training Center in Sherman County, Oregon built this summer has just worked with its first set of wind technicians who hail from across the US.

Wind Technicians Training In Oregon

Juan Flores, who teaches at Avangrid’s newly built National Training Center in Sherman County, Oregon, taught 10 students about the electrics, mechanics, and hydraulics of wind in September. Flores started his first job 14 years ago fixing wind turbines but wished he’d had more training.

Flores described how he almost passed out after climbing a 90-meter ladder because nobody had told him to take breaks along the way. It is this kind of training that wind technicians need to be successful in the fledgling industry.

Training at Avangrid includes technical skills such as drawing an electrical circuit and rendering it in the virtual reality room.

Flores said that as students see their work, they gain more confidence which helps them move on to more complex lessons. He confirmed that more complicated training modules will eventually be helpful to technicians who rise to intermediate and advanced levels.

First Students Graduate As Wind Technicians

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, clean energy jobs in the U.S. increased by more than twice the rate of all jobs in 2023.

The growth is expected to rise. Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Department indicated that wind technician jobs are forecast to grow by 60% between 2023 and 2033. This makes wind technology one of the fastest-growing employment opportunities in the U.S.

More and more people are signing up to join the dynamic new industry. In its inaugural training class, Avangrid enrolled technicians from around the country. Flores confirmed that training new technicians in safety and issues that may arise on the job is important.

A new wind technology technician at Avangrid’s Barton Chapel wind farm in Texas, Karsen Coats, said he was born and raised working on motors and mechanic stuff. While looking to his future, Coats wanted something that would be a good career path. He saw a lot of opportunities in wind technology. He said, “I felt like I was capable of moving up.”

Flores indicated that the program plans to train new technicians at least every few months. He said the training gives the technicians confidence, and it helps them feel safer knowing they have done it before. The job is easier when it’s something they have done before.