Maybe you think they are majestic. Maybe you think they are an eyesore. No matter what you think about wind turbines, there will be a lot more of them in the coming years. And someone has to make sure every single one of them turns. In fact, the wind turbine repair technician job is estimated to be one of the fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. this decade, with at least 5,000 new jobs by 2032. An onshore wind veteran who has been doing the job for 13 years tells WIRED what that’s it’s like.
The important things first: If you hate heights, becoming a wind turbine technician is probably not the right career for you. Sure, there were people who didn’t know the heights needed to be successful at work. But I can say with certainty that you climb 300 feet every day. (Sometimes literally: Older wind farms have turbines that you can climb up via ladders, although most places now use an elevator or trolley system.)
A mechanical or electrical background is helpful. As soon as I graduated high school, I took a job with a building contractor and worked my way up until the housing market collapsed around 2008. I then decided to enroll in a one-year vocational program to train in the field of energy production, with a large focus on wind energy. I was hired right out of school and basically traveled around the United States as a wind technician. At this time there was a major boom in wind energy production. And really, this push hasn’t stopped. We live in a world right now where we’re just trying to keep up. I really want to solidify renewable energy as the primary means of generating electricity in the future. Some of my best days at work were when I got there first, picked up a new technology, figured it out, and found answers before anyone else did.
It’s a blue-collar job, right? It’s a 7-to-3, 7-to-5 day, five days a week. You are obliged to take on standby and overtime work on weekends. So you’re out in the field, you’re out in the elements. That is the biggest challenge. In the Midwest, I go from one extreme to the other – the hot, humid summer months and then the freezing cold months. You dress according to the weather. Almost every company I’ve worked for will give you an allowance for gear like balaclavas, hand warmers, foot warmers, coverall bibs, and heavy jackets.
On a typical day, you get in and assess the condition of the wind farm with your team. (Typically you work in teams of two or three – and spend more time with them than with your own family.) If a turbine has a problem and won’t run, fix that first. However, most of the time you are only busy with routine maintenance work. Do you know your car needs an oil change, tire change or air filter change? The same applies to wind turbines. We need to grease the bearings. We tighten all the screws and make sure nothing comes loose. We change the oil and clean the turbine. For example, if a farm has 100 turbines, 200 maintenance checks must be carried out this year. Normally a review takes a whole day, and you do it four or five days in a row. The work can become monotonous. It is also labor intensive. When something like a transmission or generator fails, these are large, heavy components – these can be the toughest days.
The job has gotten better over the years. Companies are starting to adapt the turbine to the technician. So you don’t have to maneuver your body in unnatural ways. Or they make it easier to access from a ladder so you don’t find yourself in a compromising situation. The task is not just about getting turbines back into operation. It’s about doing that and going home the same way you came to work.
You can work for an owner-operator where you are on-site at the same location every day, or you can be a traveling wind technician. There are contracting companies whose employees handle everything from component repairs to major overhaul projects.
For an owner-operator in the US, you can expect to pay between $25 and $50 per hour. If you’ve been in the industry for more than five years and are very knowledgeable about your job, you can probably expect to earn somewhere between $35 and $40. If you’re a member of the union – I’m a member of the Utility Workers Union of America – the hourly wage is between $50 and $65. I have worked in both union and non-union jobs.
I have been in this field for 13 years, my colleague for 10 years and we are considered veterans, which is not common in most industries. There’s still that feeling of newness, and there seems to be so many opportunities for someone who wants to pursue a career. You know, the sky really is the limit.
– As told by Caitlin Kelly