Funding announced for Australia’s first wind turbine training tower to be built in Ballarat
Federation University is set to build Australia’s first wind turbine training tower in Ballarat.
The tender for construction of the 23-metre tower has been released, with construction expected to start on the Mount Helen (Ballarat) campus by July.
The tower has been designed with ladders and safety equipment that will give students real-world experience training to work in the wind industry, or other industries that require working at heights, such as construction and maintenance.
The tower is the first stage of Federation University’s Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Training Centre, which has received $1.8 million in funding from renewable energy companies Vestas, Acciona, GPG and Tilt Renewables.
The training centre aims to train local workers in Victoria, increasing the domestic talent pool and an alternative to relying on international training providers.
Once completed, Federation TAFE will be the only training provider in Australia able to deliver the Global Wind Organisation3 (GWO) basic safety training and refresher training courses from a simulated wind turbine tower – delivering a real-world working at heights experience. GWO accreditation is a requirement for anyone working on a wind turbine in Australia or around the world.
The second stage of the training centre will include a classroom, workshop and training equipment, delivering specialized training courses, such as wind turbine maintenance and blade repair. It’s part of Federation University’s broader plan to become the leading training and research partner for Australia’s renewable energy industry. Federation’s Ballarat campus is ideally located at the gateway to wind farm developments across western Victoria.
“We want to make Federation University the leading training and research partner for the renewable energy sector in Australia – this new wind turbine training tower is an important step.”
Federation University Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Duncan Bentley
“Industry spoke and we listened – with this new tower some of the industry’s biggest renewable energy companies can now train wind turbine technicians in Ballarat instead of using fly-in-fly-out workers.”
Pro-Vice Chancellor (VET) and Chief Executive Federation TAFE, Liam Sloan
SED Regional Advisory researched and prepared the business case to fund the Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Training Centre.
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