The world’s largest turbine manufacturers and owners have collaborated to bring to market their most ambitious training standard yet. The GWO Blade Repair standard is designed to achieve learning objectives in the safety and craftsmanship skills that are essential to this challenging, technical role.
The GWO Blade Repair Working Group has completed pilot testing of the standard, ready for its official launch on April 1st.
A draft version of the standard will be published on or before 22nd February 2019, allowing training providers to prepare for the launch. Subscribers to our newsletter will receive notification as soon as the draft is published.
Requiring 10 days’ instruction, the Blade Repair Training Standard represents an industry approved curriculum to train technicians up to a minimum standard of skills in safety and craftsmanship.
Pilot tests in the United Kingdom at Maersk Training and Germany with AeroConcept finished at the end of January and the working group is now in the process of completing the final draft before publication. Jakob Kristensen, SGRE Global Competency Manager, Organizational change, Product Management, Strategic Analysis, Execution has led the GWO Blade Repair Working Group.
He explains: “Our analysis shows there is already up to an 80% commonality between GWO members' existing blade repair training programmes. We are standardizing to train a comprehensive set of skills and knowledge, grouped into four main lesson blocks: General Safety; Personal Protective Equipment, General Knowledge and Craftsmanship.
"As an illustration of what the output will be, delegates will after completing the course, have a foundation of skills to complete repairs to damage on the blade surface, trailing edge, leading edge, sandwich panel and bond line.”
Draft copies of the standard will be shared from next week. The standard’s official launch will be on 1st April, with a demonstration from the Working Group at the Wind Europe Conference & Exhibition in Bilbao on 3rd April.
An estimated 4500[1]technicians are currently employed by the top 30 global companies in the field. Demand for skilled workers operating to a recognized standard skill set is likely to increase in line with a growth of installations and the repair schedule from existing sites.
“We are supporting GWO’s goal of standardising generic training and delivering a standard that employers can rely on when delivered by a GWO certified training provider,” adds Jakob.
Having developed the standard, the working group and GWO membership are keen to remind industry practitioners that all GWO training can be merited against similar training.
This means for example that technicians with an existing blade repair or inspection certificate could have their skills merited against the new standard. This process will require a gap analysis of the original training against Blade Repair. GWO will prepare a gap analysis table for the Blade Repair Standard over the coming months.
SEE MORE ON MERIT ASSESSMENT HERE:
[1] Source:Coherent Market Insights: Wind TurbineBlade Inspection Services Market – November 2018
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