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This report examines today’s domestic wind workforce, projected workforce needs as the industry grows, and how existing and new programs can meet the wind industry's future education and training needs.
As wind capacity in the United States grows, economic opportunities also emerge—supported by the development of the wind workforce, specifically in the operation and maintenance (O&M) phase. Moreover, almost all wind turbines in the United States—about 99%—are located in rural areas (American Wind Energy Association 2018). Communities in these rural areas can anticipate some degree of economic impact from the wind industry. However, the various stakeholders within these communities, such as local businesses and government officials, are not always fully informed of the workforce impacts caused by wind power plants during operational years (Stefek et al. 2019). Although several research studies have focused on workforce and economic impacts of land-based wind facilities (e.g., Tegen et al. 2014; Brown et al. 2012; Halvatzis and Keyser 2013), these studies focused on the quantity of workers and not on O&M workforce interactions with local communities, such as worker commuting and spending patterns. This report is intended to provide stakeholders and community decision makers with qualitative and quantitative information to enable informed decisions that support workforce planning around new wind energy deployment.
Since 2015, the U.S. wind installed capacity has grown from 73 to over 120 gigawatts, creating jobs across many sectors and educational levels. The growth of the wind workforce will need to continue to meet the goal of 20% wind by 2030, as well as the Biden administration's goals to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 2030, reach 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050. Despite the needed and anticipated growth, there are challenges to meeting this demand. Research has consistently shown that it has been a challenge finding qualified applicants for open wind industry jobs. Between 2012 and 2018, the difficulty of finding qualified applicants increased from 62% to 68% according to industry respondents. In 2017, educational institutions and training programs reported that 67% of their students did not enter the wind energy industry. Research conducted in 2020 showed that 83% of interested workers had some or great difficulty finding job opportunities. In exploring reasons for this gap, the researchers found that challenges were primarily influenced by education, experience, and geography. This difficulty for wind industry employers, educational institutions, and the potential workforce is known as the "wind energy workforce gap." This report further investigates the experience aspect of this gap.
This report summarizes the authors' analysis, focusing on the near- (through 2030) and long-term (through 2050) implications of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. Specifically, the authors assessed impacts on power sector evolution, offshore wind supply chain and infrastructure, and offshore wind workforce needs in the United States. The methods, limitations, and results of each aspect of the analysis are presented in their respective sections.
As the United States dramatically expands wind energy deployment, the industry is faced with the need to quickly develop a skilled workforce and to address public acceptance. Wind Powering America's Wind for Schools project addresses these challenges. This poster, produced for the American Wind Energy Association's annual WINDPOWER conference, provides an overview of the project, includingobjectives, methods, and results.
Bangladesh is aiming to limit emissions, and gain access to cleaner, more efficient technologies to support economic growth as the nation strives to achieve high-income status by 2041. Bangladesh identified that it has a potential for offshore wind energy, especially at hub heights of 140 to 160 meters, which is pivotal in diversifying the country's energy mix and ensuring energy security. This one-day webinar is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through two projects: (1) Reinforcing Advanced Energy Systems (RAES) project, implemented by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and (2) Bangladesh Advancing Development and Growth through Energy (BADGE) project, implemented by Tetra Tech.
Improvements to wind technologies have, in part, led to substantial deployment of U.S. wind power in recent years. The degree to which technology innovation will continue is highly uncertain adding to uncertainties in future wind deployment. We apply electric sector modeling to estimate the potential wind deployment opportunities across a range of technology advancement projections. The suite of projections considered span a wide range of possible cost and technology innovation trajectories, including those from a recent expert elicitation of wind energy experts, a projection based on the broader literature, and one reflecting estimates based on a U.S. DOE research initiative. In addition, we explore how these deployment pathways may impact the electricity system, electricity consumers, the environment, and the wind-related workforce. Overall, our analysis finds that wind technology innovation can have consequential implications for future wind power development throughout the United States, impact the broader electricity system, lower electric system and consumer costs, provide potential environmental benefits, and grow the U.S. wind workforce.
Significant advances in wind turbine technology and wind turbine power plant capabilities are appearing in the U.S. Sites that only 10 years ago might have been overlooked are being considered for build out. However, the development of a skilled workforce in the engineering fields and construction trades lags the potential market, especially if the industry is expected to site, design, construct, and operate sufficient wind power plant sites to meet the potential for 20% wind energy by 2030. A select few firms have penetrated the engineer-procure-construction (EPC) market of wind power plant construction. Competition and know-how in this market is vital to achieve cost-effective, design-construct solutions. The industry must produce or retrain engineers, contractors, and technicians to meet ambitious goals. Currently, few universities offer undergraduate or graduate classes that teach the basics in designing, building, and maintaining wind power plants that are safe, efficient, and productive.
A robust workforce is essential to developing domestic wind power projects, including manufacturing, siting, operations, maintenance, and research capabilities. The purpose of our research is to better understand today's domestic wind workforce, projected workforce needs as the industry grows, and how existing and new programs can meet the wind industry's future education and training needs. Results presented in this report provide the first published investigation into the detailed makeup of the wind energy workforce, educational infrastructure and training needs of the wind industry. Insights from this research into the domestic wind workforce will allow the private sector, educational institutions, and federal and state governmental organizations to make workforce-related decisions based on the current employment and training data and future projections in this report.
This webinar addresses the current state and future needs of the U.S. offshore wind energy workforce and supply chain. During this webinar, National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers Matt Shields and Jeremy Stefek will present new research on the challenges of producing thousands of offshore wind energy technology components while creating tens of thousands of U.S. jobs - and the solutions that can help meet those challenges. Topics covered in the webinar include port facilities, vessels, component manufacturing, trades and roles in the industry, workforce development and training, and the coordination of supply chain and workforce efforts between states and regions.
As the United States' largest source of renewable energy, wind is already playing a vital role in the nation's shift to electricity generated from sustainable resources. Scientists, engineers, and analysts at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are propelling our country closer to this clean energy future with new efficient, reliable, and cost-competitive wind technologies and deployment strategies. In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY 2023), NREL received national acclaim for recent wind technology breakthroughs, applauded sustained decades of progress in wind energy research, and heralded new initiatives to support the next generation of wind development. This report and NREL's achievements of the last year set the stage for innovative research to come. Two NREL software innovations used to assess wind technology options were recognized with R&D 100 Awards. The Renewable Energy Potential (reV) model helps planners, developers, and researchers calculate wind energy capacity, generation, and cost for specific facilities, fleets and scenarios. NREL's Simulation and Emulation for Advanced Systems validates transmission and distribution solutions to minimize implementation risks. Both of these tools can be applied to a range of renewable solutions to cut costs and improve the reliability of systems in even the most remote locations. The laboratory commemorated landmark anniversaries for wind energy research facilities and programs managed by NREL. The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) celebrated 30 years as a world-class hub for renewable energy research. An important component of the NWTC on NREL's Flatirons Campus, the one-of-a-kind 7-megawatt (MW) Controllable Grid Interface wind energy research apparatus, turned 10 this year. The Collegiate Wind Competition completed its tenth annual competition in May 2023. Six years after the grand challenges in wind energy science were first compiled, NREL brought together more than 100 wind energy experts from 15 countries to revisit the field's most pressing research needs. Other key new research initiatives examined ways to simultaneously address the needs for skilled wind energy workers and equitable job opportunities. NREL released the first national-level report evaluating offshore wind industry workforce gaps and ways to build a large, diverse pool of job candidates. The lab also co-hosted the International Partnering Forum's Offshore Wind Workforce Summit as part of its ongoing efforts to address the special challenges of that industry sector. NREL research and development (R&D) for the DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) continues to build momentum in its efforts to combat climate change, create clean energy jobs, and promote energy justice. This report provides more detail on these top achievements and other accomplishments made by NREL and its partners during FY 2023 (between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023).
During the two-year project period, the consortium members have developed control algorithms for enhancing the reliability of wind turbine components. The consortium members have developed advanced operation and planning tools for accommodating the high penetration of variable wind energy. The consortium members have developed extensive education and research programs for educating the stakeholders on critical issues related to the wind energy research and development. In summary, The Consortium procured one utility-grade wind unit and two small wind units. Specifically, the Consortium procured a 1.5MW GE wind unit by working with the world leading wind energy developer, Invenergy, which is headquartered in Chicago, in September 2010.
The U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition prepares students from multiple disciplines to enter tomorrow’s wind energy workforce. As part of the competition, undergraduate students build and test a wind turbine, establish a deployment strategy, and develop and deliver a business plan.
The funds from this project were used to purchase tools and instrumentation to help replicate actual on-the-job wind energy scenarios which provided the students with the practical or applied components of wind energy jobs. This project enhanced the educational experiences provided for the students in terms of engineering and science components of wind energy by using electronics, control systems, and electro-mechanical instrumentation to help students learn standardized wind-specific craftsman skills. In addition the tools and instrumentation helped the students learn the safety necessary to work in the wind industry.
This document reports on the findings of an inventory of the educational and workforce development resources in a four-county area on the I-91 corridor in Connecticut. The overarching goal of this exercise is to help the local workforce leaders in Bridgeport, Connecticut to optimize their training programs to support the county's clean energy transition. The inventory generally finds that Fairfield County, where Bridgeport is located, lacks adequate education and training programs compared to other surrounding counties with similar populations. More than half of Fairfield County's programs occur through high school or career technical education programs, suggesting that there are minimal opportunities for workers who are not currently high school students. Much of the existing focus within Fairfield County is on general construction or plumbing and electrical skills. There is room to expand by offering more programs focusing on energy efficiency and renewable energy skills. The document outlines some potential next steps and questions for consideration for the local workforce leaders in Bridgeport. Bridgeport is a city located within Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut. It is the largest city in Connecticut with an estimated population of 150,000. Through the Department of Energy-funded Communities LEAP program, NREL conducted an analysis of existing education and workforce development (EWD) programs located in Fairfield County that align with (or could support) the worker pipeline for occupations related to building energy efficiency (EE), renewable energy (RE), and clean energy manufacturing. The analysis also looked at EWD offerings in other counties in Connecticut as a point of comparison.
Meeting the additional job requirements spurred by potential growth in the offshore wind industry is likely to involve intentional and effective recruitment practices and training program development across all occupations (e.g., skilled trades, engineers, professionals) at state, regional, and local levels. The workforce development ecosystem is complex, especially for an industry like offshore wind, so assessing the readiness of an area to support the workforce needs of new manufacturing facilities involves evaluating numerous economic and training factors at an occupational level. Funded by the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium and led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, this report represents one part of a two-part study that explores the challenges and opportunities for Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina in fostering regional collaboration to build a domestic supply chain for the U.S. offshore wind energy sector.
This project dealt with the development of a range of educational resources dealing with wind energy and wind energy integration in the electric grid. These resources were developed for a variety of audiences including; a) high school student, b) undergraduate electrical engineering students, c) graduate electrical engineering students, and d) practicing engineers in industry. All the developed material is available publicly and the courses developed are being taught at the two participating universities, Arizona State University and Iowa State University.
This presentation for the January Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach webinar outlines the expanded need for workers in the wind industry and provides an overview of the DOE Wind Competition (to be held in May 2014) and the guiding principles of the competition.