Siemens has announced that it will build a new wind energy training facility in Orlando, Fla., in order to fulfill the high demand for skilled wind energy service technicians.
The 40,000 square-foot center, which will be located close to the global headquarters of Siemens' Energy Service division in Orlando, will require an initial investment from Siemens of approximately $7 million. The service center will host approximately 2,400 trainees annually from the U.S. and the rest of the Americas, and will create 50 new full-time jobs.
The training center will provide technical and health and safety training for Siemens' wind power service technicians, equipping them with the skills required to safely meet the service needs of the industry, the company explains. The facility will offer a wide variety of qualification and training options covering all aspects of technology and operational reliability.
The central feature of the new training center will be two full-sized Siemens nacelles, upon which wind service technicians will be trained to perform maintenance based on Siemens specifications. In addition, two 32-foot-high climbing towers, ladder structures, electrical and hydraulic modules, and a maintenance crane will make training, safety and rescue simulations possible under realistic conditions. The Orlando location will also be designed to accommodate large classroom sizes.
The Orlando wind power training center will be one of four Siemens wind service training facilities, joining Brande, Denmark; Bremen, Germany; and Newcastle, U.K. The training center, which is being built based on LEED Gold green-building standards, is scheduled to begin operations by this summer.
