Academy Receives Donation of Wind Turbine Nacelles to Enhance Student Learning

Students enrolled in Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Wind Turbine Technician Academy now have two new wind turbine nacelles to use for hands-on training, thanks to a donation from NextEra Energy Resources, LLC. Weighing approximately 180,000 pounds, the nacelle houses all of the generating components of a wind turbine. They were delivered to campus this week from the Lake Benton II Wind Farm in Pipestone County, MN.

“We are extremely grateful for this generous donation and look forward to helping supply the industry with qualified and safety-focused technicians for years to come,” said Tom Sutton, director of wind energy and technical services for the Wind Turbine Technician Academy.

NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, is a clean energy leader and is one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S., with approximately 21,000 megawatts of net generating capacity, primarily in 36 states and Canada as of year-end 2018.

“We are thrilled to partner with Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Wind Turbine Technician Academy and contribute to the nation’s leading training program for wind turbine technicians,” said Erico Lopez, NextEra Energy Resources project manager. “Wind technician is one of the fastest growing jobs in the United States, so the direct experience these students can receive from working with the equipment will help them as they progress in their journeys to becoming wind technicians.”

The competency-based academy provides a fast track to jobs that are in demand and pay high wages. Kalamazoo Valley offers the course as a non-credit, full-time program allowing students the chance to be job-ready in less than six months. Focused on specific, hands-on competencies, the unique training model followed at the academy moves students from the classroom to the learning labs and into the field quickly.

“It is critical in experiential learning that the trainee can make the connection between the classroom, learning lab and field as efficiently as possible,” Sutton said. “These nacelles give us the ability to more closely replicate the field experiences they are being prepared for and teach the safe use of tools, processes and basic movements through a nacelle while in a safe and controlled environment.”

More than 96 percent of Wind Turbine Technician Academy alumni work in the wind industry, with the majority accepting offers for employment prior to graduation. The academy is offered twice a year, in January and July. The next academy begins on January 3, 2020. For more information call 269-353-1253, email careeracademies@kvcc.edu or visit www.kvcc.edu/wind.