Category: Wind technician training

STL USA partnering with colleges has been a constant theme over the last 10 years of operations in the USA. On the back of this STL USA’s parent company has over 20 years of experience working with education providers, military leavers organizations, and other workforce organizations alongside commercial wind technician training. To partner with STL USA could not be more simple.

STL USA has made it a key part of its mission to play a central role in the workforce expansion required to meet the demands of the fast-growing renewable energy sector and working with education is central to this long-term strategy.

What is GWO?

The Global Wind Organization (GWO) was created to implement a set of standards across the industry, initially to improve safety and later to provide a framework for required skills. The GWO was created by its members who include GE, Vestas, Siemens, and a host of large national and multinational businesses. Suffice it to say it’s formed of a who’s who in the wind.

The standards created by GWO are then adapted into training courses which are the default for the wind industry. It’s not an exageration to say it’s very hard to even set foot on a wind farm with GWO certificates.

Why is it important for students?

There are two reasons, employability and salaries. Having GWO makes a prospective employee more attractive to employers and also translates to higher salaries. Put simply it gives new employees a clear advantage.

Other advantages

Once a facility is audited and approved anyone can train there. This opens up commercial opportunities for colleges to train local business customers.

 Programs with education follow a simple 4-step process that allows for a fast, low-cost roll-out.. These stages include:

COMPLIANT QUALITY MANAGEMENT SETUP

• QMS set up for partner site
• Compliance requirements

FACILITIES

• Audit existing facilities for GWO compliance
• Gap analysis
• Roadmap to Compliance

• WEEK 1-2 Course attendance and observation
• WEEK 3 Supported delivery
• WEEK 4 Observed course delivery

• Pre-Audit run through
• Independent GWO audit

STL USA has refined this process to ensure a fast, low-cost delivery that results in GWO accreditation within 6-8 weeks. Additionally, once audited the college can then take advantage of commercial training opportunities with local businesses.

Working with TSTC

The Texas State Technical College (TSTC) wind program is rightly considered one of the premier courses in the USA. The partnership between STL USA and TSTC dates back over 6 years. Initially developed to service local wind technicians, the program was then extended to students. Incorporating GWO into student studies ensures that graduates are in the best possible position to enter the job market. 

“Working with STL USA has allowed us to quickly integrate industry requirements into our undergraduate programs. Simply put this makes our graduates more employable. STL USA takes care of everything ensuring our faculty can get on with teaching. It’s been a pleasure working together.”

TSTC Wind program lead

As we move forward with renewables across the USA new legislation will fuel the sector’s growth. It’s anticipated that the clean energy sector will double in the next 10 years requiring an additional 250,000 people to fill roles. With this in mind, it’s essential that the commercial and education sectors come together to ensure the next generation of wind professionals are able to meet the demands of this fast-moving industry.

If you lead a wind program talk to us now about how STL USA can support the role out of a GWO program for your college.

GWO Training in Abilene includes a complete range of courses delivered by highly experienced trainers

The STL USA -GWO Training center Abilene is one of the premier training sites in the USA

STL USA are delighted to announce we are the first North American GWO trainer to offer BTT Bolt Tightening

STL USA are delighted to announce we are the first North American GWO trainer to offer BTT Bolt Tightening

STL USA are delighted to announce we will be carrying a range of Megger testing equipment for use in courses

STL USA has recently taken onboard a range of Megger testing equipment. STL USA is delighted to be able to incorporate this equipment into our training programmes including grounding and insulation testing. This will allow STL USA to cover of many of the requirements across the ACP micro-credentials alongside electrical modules within GWO Basic Technical Training, GWO Control of Hazardous Energies and more.

Megger are widely recognised as the market leader in this field.

Learn more about Megger here

Megger

“I’m delighted that Megger has provided us with a range of their equipment, it means our students get to train on the best.”

-Ben Dickens VP North America STL USA

“Megger believes supporting electrical training is crucial for the students and the electrical industry. We are proud to partner with quality training institutions such as STL USA”.

-Jeff Hyde, Regional Distribution Sales Manager

Electrical course, BTT Electrical, CoHE Electrical Safety, NFPA 70E

STL USA run a range of courses focussed on the electrical side of wind. The GWO BTT Electrical module, GWO CoHE Electrical Safety and Low and High voltage courses to standard NFPA 70E.

In addition we will be launching a range of online, micro courses to provide top-up education for technicians in the coming months.

Course programmes at STL USA are shifting focus, adopting a modular approach that allows STL SUA to build groups of courses together to meet both GWO and ACP recommendations. The most popular courses will always be available as open enrollment however should you need a more bespoke programme a member of the team can work closely with you to identify and define the training you need.

New GWO courses aligned to the GWO entry level framework and ACP entry level training guide

We’re delighted to announce new GWO courses for 2023. But first a little background on their importance.

As many of you know GWO and ACP have been working hard in unison to launch guidance on training and skills expectations for new and existing wind technicians.  From GWO ‘s perspective, this comes in the form of the Entry Level Wind Technician Framework, for ACP it is the Entry Level Wind Technician training guidelines. Crucially the ACP guide includes many of the core GWO courses.

In both cases, the aim is to offer a simplified set of profiles and corresponding skills and accreditations that each should achieve. This gives employers a clear framework to follow with guidance that aims to ensure a comprehensive understanding of entry-level requirements for operations and maintenance wind technicians for onshore and offshore wind facilities.

More info here:

ACP

GWO

New BTT courses – BTT Bolt Tightening, BTT Installation

The May 2023 update to BTT included the addition of a new course, BTT Bolt TIghtening, which sits alongside the existing Mechanical, Electrical, and Hydraulic courses as part of the core BTT training. In addition, STL USA has also added BTT Installation, which is taken with BTT Mechanical for those technicians that focus on pre-assembly and installation projects. Both courses form a core part of the entry-level frameworks for wind technicians and are available from mid-July.

New Control of Hazardous Energies (CoHE) courses

Hazardous energies pose a high risk of injury to all workers working within the wind industry. One of the reasons for this is that hazardous energies are found in various forms within the wind turbine environment and within the environment of a wind farm.

The CoHE course is a core component of the entry-level framework, formed of three modules covering basic safety, electrical safety, and pressure fluid safety. Available in mid-July.

New Lift courses

STL USA is delighted to be adding GWO lift training from our facility, using 3S lift equipment.

Training in accordance with this Lift Standard will enable participants to take responsibility to support and care for themselves and others while operating and working on a lift in the wind industry. This is vitally important as lifts become more and more commonplace in newer turbines. Available mid-July.

Improving standardization

It has been a clear goal of industry bodies to provide a level of standardization across the wind industry to ensure consistency across skills, accreditations, and competence. But above all, it gives employers certainty in the expectations for their staff. STL USA is a major supporter of this drive.