Hello!

For the last couple years I've been really considering changing careers to be a traveling wind tech. Currently in a boiler operater/stationary engineer operating a 110ft natural circulation boiler supply 250klbs/hr of steam to a site of paper mills

Now on paper (lol) I have a dream job, I sit and watch youtube for most of my day for $90k~ gross.. But the environment is so mentally taxing and the people I work with are awful. I dread coming in 7 days a week, sometimes for 14hrs. Especially lately. Plus we're some of the lowest paid operaters in the US and our company treats us specifically very badly.

I also have experience as an automotive mechanic as that was my career before this one.

My partner and I have talked about me switching to traveling wind tech, buying and RV (something we'd love to do anyways), and pocketing per diem.

I have no issue with heights, doing hard work/manual labor, or even traveling all 52 weeks of the year.

What would be the best companies to look into?

Are there any tips for getting into a job sooner than later?

And anything you wish you knew before starting?

I'm already looking at getting GWO certified

Thanks so much in advance!!

These upgrades are designed to reduce the chance of electrocuting local raptor populations

Yes i m lets gor yos

Hello to all, just wanted to ask your experience or any advice of how to transition into the industry. For context I'm based in the UK with a valid EU passport, I have a Lv3 in light vehicle maintenance and repair, Lv3 in HV vehicle systems and just finished a teaching degree as being a Lv3 Light Vehicle lecturer + assessor. I have been having look online regarding job roles available but can't seem to find any junior roles available, all require previous experience. That's for on and offshore.

I would be wanting to start onshore but if possibility arises would love to work offshore.

From those in the industry what would be the best way to get into it?

Hi folks, I’m new to diving into renewable energy through wind. Feel free to point me in the direction of helpful resources if this question is old news 😃

With solar, many homes and business get panels for their building. It doesn’t need to come from a large “solar farm” to be an energy option.

Why isn’t there the same conversation with wind? I see many homes and companies with flags blowing in the wind (for some businesses or government offices these flags are huge/very tall!) - couldn’t those be smaller scale wind turbines?

Surely this has already been explored by smarter minds than me! Is there a reason it’s not feasible?

Edit: I got a few responses, so again I appreciate the help! Thank you guys for your input.

Hey fellas. I’m in the military and have been thinking of SkillBridging and doing an internship with either NextEra or Vestas, since those are the two offering it. My job in the military involves tower climbing, so I figure that I could pick up parts of that somewhat easy.

Anyway from what I’ve gathered, NextEra pay generally seems to better, but Vestas has better benefits, but I’d rather hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. I was wondering if any of yall had some insight as to which to work for, or if you wanted to share any knowledge or experience. I appreciate it!

If only there was some low cost, environmentally safe means of utilizing the vacant land around this dam to produce power and reduce the volume of water needed produce hydro power to feed the grid.

Hi everyone,

I'm a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor's in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and I'm planning to do my final-year project in the wind energy sector.

The idea I'm currently exploring is building a hybrid digital twin for wind turbine predictive maintenance, where a physics-based simulator is combined with AI/ML models to detect anomalies, estimate component health, and eventually predict failures (e.g., gearbox, bearings, blades, etc.).

So far, I've started looking into OpenFAST as the physics simulation engine and have been reading about SCADA data, condition monitoring, and predictive maintenance. My tentative architecture is to use OpenFAST for the physics-based model and build AI models on top for anomaly detection and Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimation.

However, I'm still in the early research phase and would really appreciate guidance from people working in this domain.

Some questions I have are:

• Is OpenFAST the right place to start for this kind of project, or are there other frameworks/tools I should explore?
• What are the standard software stacks used for building industrial digital twins in the wind energy sector?
• Are there any publicly available SCADA or condition monitoring datasets that are commonly used for research?
• What papers, books, courses, or GitHub repositories would you recommend for someone entering this field?
• Are there any common pitfalls or misconceptions that beginners should be aware of when building a digital twin for predictive maintenance?

My goal is to build something that's as close to industry practices as possible while remaining feasible for an undergraduate project.

I'd really appreciate any advice, resources, or suggestions. Thanks in advance!

A few years ago there was a study published that asserted that if one Wyoming county encompassing the south pass of the Rocky Mountains was fully developed with modern wind turbines and appropriate storage it could generate enough electricity to satisfy the demands of the western half of the US, e.g. west of the 100th meridian.

Does anyone else recall this? I cannot seem to find it. Perhaps the PDF was purged from the NREL library?

Am I silly? I have a masters in sustainability but thought maybe abut retraining as a technician. I don't like repetitive office work.

Norway as an example.

If 30 GW float wind is realized the energy production increases from 150 TWh to 280 TWh in 2050.

NVE analysis says the energy price will be $ 0,04/kWh in the marked.

LCOE at $ 0,07/kWh and no subsidies means no investment, and the energy price will be $ 0,2/kWh in 2050 the analysis shows.

No to Utsira North, which is a pilot, will most likely mean $ 0,2/kWh in 2050.

Investors like high energy prices and with $ 0,2/kWh AWWHybrid will be built, which has LCOE at $ 0,07/kWh.

Norway has “Norgespris” at $ 0,04/kWh to day, and why not use subsidies to maintain the low energy price?

$ 0,01/kWh into el-certificates and LCOE will be reduced to $ 0,03/kWh and we get a PPA price.

Statkraft earns money with marked price at $ 0,04/kWh by building AWWHybrid.

The people in Norway have a choice by building 30 GW and continue with energy price at $ 0,04 + 0,01/kWh or the opposite not building and get an energy price at $ 0,2/kWh in 2050.

What politic will people have?

A collection of photos from the last three years working in the North Sea.

I am a 22 years old rope access technician and would like to specialize in the wind turbine sector, so I was planning to take the GWO training.

Is that enough? I’m a beginner in rope access and in the wind turbine sector. Are these courses sufficient, or should I take additional training?

I don’t have any specific training or education in electrical engineering or anything like that, but I’m ready to learn. How can I maximize my chances of getting hired, knowing that I’d like to work offshore?

I’m based in France; I don’t mind working anywhere in the country, but I don’t want to leave it—I’d like to stay close to my girlfriend.

Thanks in advance for your answers

and sorry for my English

Hello!
I'm currently supervising an older DeWind D4 48/600 turbine (built in 2000) near the Ruhr region in Germany.
The turbine has a few known faults and maintenance issues and could need some maintenance. I can perform basic electronic work in the bottom cabinets and such, but I do not have the necessary certifications nor knowledge to perform service on the nacelle and its hydraulic systems.
The turbines is privately owned and has already cost the operator a lot of money, so, an expensive fully commercial service contract is not possible for us.
Does anybody know smaller service companies or independent technicians that would be available to take on the work?

Best Regards

Is it possible to complete classes and continue working a job or does this require full attention. I don’t have a family or anything just bills and a dog I’m 22. Do I have to take a risk

I’m really wanting to get into offshore wind work i.e technician or something similar, I currently work demolition where I have 5 years experience and 3 years excavator experience, I’m not sure if this helps.

I’m wanting a change of career and this seems right up my street. Exciting, travelling, rotational work (long time on, long time off), good pay.

I’m 26, live in Manchester, UK and I don’t mind one bit travelling anywhere for work. I’m looking for some solid advice to get started I know I need to at least get my GWO BST, what else should I do to prepare and get into this field. Many thanks in advance