Warlick International

Attractive Employment Potential in the Wind Power Sector

Among just a few industries today with positive growth and employment opportunities across all global markets is the wind power sector. It has experienced steady growth since 2001-2002 in North America, and for a longer period in Europe where this business got its start. This article provides a brief summary of current and potential employment conditions in this important and growing area of business.

Positive Support for Wind Power Sector

The positive nature of wind power today was validated quite recently by record attendance at the WINDPOWER Conference in Chicago during the first week in May. The number of exhibitors and attendees were both up more than 50% from the 2008 conference held in Houston. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) sponsors this and other wind energy-related conferences.

There are several drivers for today’s keen interest in the wind power space:

• Continuing momentum in wind farm installations, especially in the U.S.
• Wind turbine manufacturers have smartly managed the 2002-2008 run-up and a 2009 “pause”
• Electric power generated from a renewable sources is needed and will be mandated
• Political support for this space continues, with staying power in Europe and the U.S.
• Stimulus and investment factors are becoming more supportive
• A long-term future underlies the wind space worldwide

In an era of reshaped commerce and business that is evolving today, the wind power space has much predictability for the future and consequent support for current and future employment opportunities.

Wind Power Beginnings

Wind turbines convert kinetic energy from moving wind resources into rotational energy, which in turn is ultimately converted to electricity. Wind turbines are not new; their beginnings go back many years. The early designs for the current, modern wind turbine of today were actually developed by the U.S. Department of Energy through efforts at their National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Denver, Colorado. However it was European manufacturers who took those designs, improved them and launched a totally new renewable energy business.

This sector has grown steadily since 2001-2002. The U.S. wind power business started with the import of turbines, equipment and technology from Europe. But there is now steady growth opportunity in the U.S. for domestic equipment and component manufacturing, parts and supply, contract construction and ultimately, attractive employment possibilities.

Employment Opportunities

Wind power employment typically falls into three segments: wind turbine manufacturing, wind farm construction & development and electric power delivery.

Wind Turbine Manufacturing — The majority of wind turbine manufacturing capacity today is sited in Europe. But thanks to huge wind resources across the mid-section of the U.S. there has been significant growth in U.S. turbine installations. More than eight new wind turbine manufacturing plants were opened in the U.S. in 2008 and another 19 facilities announced. In total, during the 2007-2008 period there were 70 new facilities announced, added or expanded in the U.S. with 55 of the total being manufacturing locations (most were European).

There is been significant support and investment by European manufacturers in U.S. wind power. A good example is a recently-opened wind turbine manufacturing facility in Brighton, Colorado owned by the Danish firm Vestas, the world’s leading wind turbine manufacturer. Vestas is also planning a 400-employee factory in Pueblo, Colorado to build towers that support these wind turbines. It’s estimated that about 50% of all components for U.S. wind turbine installations are now manufactured in the U.S. with that share increasing steadily.

What kind of occupations are there in wind power manufacturing? A recent study that included a 250-employee wind turbine manufacturing facility identified a surprising 126 occupations, ranging from manager to engineer to machinist, technician and even janitor.

Wind Farm Construction & Development – Wind farms are the heart of the business and are installed ideally where there are high-velocity wind resources (“resources” mean the wind is predictable and strong, as opposed to being intermittent and unpredictable). The total U.S. wind resource base includes a broad sweep of the area in the U.S. from West Texas through the Dakotas, also encompassing areas of the Rockies.

Developers of wind farms are similar to real estate developers, in that the economics of a facility must be attractive over time to warrant the investment, construction and operation of such a facility — in this case a wind farm. Today’s typical wind farms may have 100 to 300 wind turbines installed and could cost from $1.4 million to $3 million per installed turbine (includes all land and infrastructure). A development team for such a facility will include meteorologists, real estate/land procurement personnel, engineers, environmental permitting staff, financial analysts, wind technicians and highly-qualified engineers. All this to determine feasibility, secure financing, plan, engineer and construct the facility.

During the construction phase there are requirements for construction and installation personnel, lifting/rigging equipment & cranes and ultimately, testing and startup specialists. Constructing today’s wind farm will be a four-year process from planning to startup. It should be noted that there is significant site research and detailed collection of data to validate the site in terms of wind resource, overall economics, satisfaction of permitting & land use regulations, funding, land owner negotiations & permission, etc. The front end of these projects can be critical in terms of wind farm ” capacity” or uptime, which can range from 30% to 40%. A capacity shortfall from plan of 1% or 2% can be a killer in the economics of a wind farm.

But it doesn’t stop there. Just as in other productive installations with equipment running on a constant basis there are operations and maintenance (or O&M) requirements for the facility that will extend throughout the next 20 – 30 years. Truly, wind farm installations are quite similar to power generation, petroleum processing or other types of plant installations in the way they are conceived, planned constructed and operated over their lifetimes, and have a similar employment requirements and opportunities to those types of facilities.

Electric Power Delivery — Employment opportunities here are transitioning into the electric power generation sector which also includes the electric power grid. As wind farm installations are added across U.S., European and other geographic areas there is the dilemma of transporting electric power from areas with high wind resources (typically less populated) to high-demand areas (typically with large populations).

Thereby, the existing electric grid system of today is challenged. Additions must be made and that will be a part of the future employment opportunities as the electric power sector will enhance and extend to the existing grid.

Employment opportunities in this segment of wind power will most often be categorized as planning, engineering, financial, construction, line maintenance, etc.

European turbines being loaded for a Illinois wind project at the Port of Pensacola

Employment in the Wind Power Sector

According to Renewable Energy World Magazine the European wind power sector had direct employment of almost 109,000 by the end of 2008. This is more than twice the sector employment in 2002 and represents an annual increase of over 12,000 jobs per year. If we add indirect employment of 50% (to include various supply, legal, accounting, financial services professionals, etc.) then total indirect plus direct employment exceeded 160,000.

In the U.S., wind power is now considered a mainstream option for electric power generation, and just slightly behind Europe in employment. AWEA estimates 2008 employment in the wind sector at 85,000 jobs. According to the new U.S. Administration, initiatives extended to renewable energy (that include production & tax credits, training, outright grants and other support) would be sufficient to grow the business so that by 2030 there could be approximately 500,000 jobs in the overall renewable space. That is quite a jump for a 21-year period but this sector now has momentum supported by politics, financial realities and more attractive economics.

What’s Ahead

Most important, right now there is life in the current wind sector employment scene with a broad range of openings continuing to be advertised. Some examples of help-wanted advertisements dated 13th May 2009:

• Turbine Manufacturer — Currently seeking qualified staff for openings in Engineering, Quality Control, Production Engineering, Field Operations and Technical Training
• Turbine Installer — Looking for Site Project Managers, Site Project Engineers, Site Safety Managers and Field Superintendents
• Electrical Contractor — Seeks Wind Energy Electrical Technicians and Supervisors
• Crane & Rigging Company — Looking for Site Managers and Project Managers
• Renewable Energy Consultancy — Recruiting for Senior Electrical Engineer, Turbine Engineer, Senior Project Manager and Meteorologist

Although there is a worldwide pause in overall manufacturing and installation of wind power capacity at this time, it is largely due to credit and financial markets seizing up and not necessarily because of the economics that drive this business in “normal” times.

The good news is that this sector is receiving political support and financial incentives to grow and employ workers — and fast. In addition the turbine manufacturers have managed this current “pause” for installations quite well so there is minimum clogging of the supply channel for wind turbines, which could otherwise negatively impact manufacturing activity in 2009 and 2010.

In summary, our perspective for the wind power sector and its related employment opportunities is positive, with potential for uptrending activity by late 2009 or early 2010. The commitments of financial stimuli, tax breaks and government investment in this sector along with now-realistic economics of wind power will be hugely supportive in both the near term and in future years.

This article, written by Don Warlick, was originally published in EnergyWorkforce, Summer 2009, a publication of PennEnergy.