The Wind Box of Tricks

When you are stuck in a box at the top of a 70 meter pole in the middle of nowhere and you have to stretcher an injured colleague to safety, you don’t want to be thinking, "so how do we get out of this one?"

Wind engineers need to know not just the technical differences between a Siemens 2.3 and 3.6 or a Nordex, a MHI Vestas or the Senvion turbines, but the correct method of physically exiting. Even the smallest of differences could be dangerously debilitating.

It’s an area of training that has perhaps been over generic up to now. Practice hub rescues can be little more than a physical exercise, performed at height. Realizing this Maersk Training in Aberdeen commissioned a unique simulator where multiple models can be replicated to enable technicians to train in demanding and realistic conditions. With each manufacturer the placement of equipment differs perhaps creating further complications during a rescue. Furthermore in designing the simulator they didn’t stop at just the nacelle and hub areas, but also recreated rescue situations from the basement foundation level as well as the tower, yaw deck and even the blade.

‘It’s custom-built because we reacted to market pressures and customer wishes,’ says John Abate, Managing Director for Maersk Training in Aberdeen where they have recently experienced the renewable energy sector grow dramatically to become 20% of their turnover at their renewables centre.

The arrival of the WTG – wind turbine generator – simulator compliments the HUET training pool, a working a heights tower, wind turbine transition tower, confined space rescue and crisis management for the wind industry. It is the only centre in Scotland to be able to run all five modules of the Global Wind Organisation and Basic Safety Training at one location and within a week.

At Maersk Training in Aberdeen they believe that in understanding the marketplace they have identified and solved a problem before it became an issue. In a world where wind is power, knowledge is survival.

Contact Maersk Training in Aberdeen
Maersk Training Aberdeen Ltd.
Telephone: +44 (0)1224 608 266
Email: aberdeen@maersktraining.com