This year marks the first full year that the cost of GWO credits (fees) has been tied to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) which benchmarks socio-economic life expectations in individual countries. With a growing number of certified training providers around the world, in 2020 GWO sought to align the cost of WINDA credits with national economic contexts. The previous one size fits all credit price had been considered to be financially burdensome to some training participants as the GWO cost was typically passed on by training providers to participants. By adopting the UN HDI approach GWO aimed to be more responsive to the diversity of global workforces even if training course fees are typically reimbursed by employers or recovered through an individual’s tax system credits.
Paul Robbins, Chairman of Global Wind Organisation explained:
"When we first applied the UN HDI to calculate fees for uploading training records to WINDA, we helped save on average 17% for training providers. The discounts vary depending on the relative position of your country in the index and as the industry's main employers, GWO members are committed to encouraging the adoption of basic minimum standards for safety across the world. Aligning our fee to the UNHDI remains the logical way to calculate those costs."
As WINDA fees represent 89% of GWO yearly income the expansion of training in lower cost base countries may have a proportionally greater impact on GWO revenues in the future. GWO’s nonprofit status ensures that all income generated from WINDA fees is reinvested in delivering services to our global community of wind professionals.
