A $269,691 grant has been awarded to DNV to assist the Department of Energy in overcoming challenges identified in its ‘20% Wind Energy by 2030’ report.
A total of $570,000 funding has been ear-marked for three Washington state-based wind energy companies - DNV, eFormative Options LLC, and Energy Northwest. The US Department of Energy grants have been awarded to the companies in order for them to address wind power development challenges identified in Department of Energy’s “20% Wind Energy by 2030” report.
DNV's project, Knowledge Boosting Program for New Wind Industry Professionals, will support the Department of Energy’s 20% by 2030 goal by addressing the training needs of new workforce entrants into the wind industry. The project includes the development of a training curriculum targeted at recent graduates of engineering or science programs; re-training technical professionals experienced in other industries; and providing guidance to business, government, or policymakers whose functions require a better understanding of wind energy’s background, technology, performance, risks, and future capabilities.
Developing technical professionals
As the leading US wind energy engineering and risk management service organization and as a long time participant in the US wind energy industry, DNV has a unique perspective into the education and skills necessary for technical professionals to successfully enter and participate in the wind industry.
“DNV has experienced significant growth over the past 4 years which has resulted in development of certain internal training materials and processes for new staff”, said Kevin Smith, DNV’s principal investigator for the project. “The need to train personnel exists throughout the wind industry and our success in the future depends on increasing the number of people available to support wind energy’s projected growth.”
In addition to developing a ‘knowledge boosting’ curriculum, DNV will also create and distribute a Guidance Document for implementing the curriculum and will outline a certification framework through which other programs can be evaluated.
Several key wind industry companies have agreed to participate in the project and provide guidance on the curriculum development. Industry partners include Horizon Wind Energy LLC; Edison Mission Energy; and John Deere Renewables.
Date: 29 May 2009