Saretec celebrates graduation of newly certified wind turbine service techniciansA recent virtual event celebrated the graduation and subsequent employment of the fifth group of certified wind turbine service technicians (WTST) trained by South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (Saretec), hosted at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town. Image supplied The event, Bolstering SA Energy: Saretec-trained wind turbine service technicians enter the marketplace, placed the spotlight on the importance of skills development within the country’s renewable energy sector. Highlighting the critical need for WTSTs in the coming years, Ntombifuthi Ntuli, CEO of the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), said to meet the goal of the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019 (IRP 2019) which aims to deploy 1.6GW of new wind capacity yearly from 2022 onwards, 192 new WTST will have to be trained on an annual basis to match the deployment schedule. Image supplied Dr David Phaho, deputy vice-chancellor: research, technology, innovation and partnerships at CPUT, indicated that Saretec will be training 135 technicians in the coming three years and selection for WTST group 7 is already under way. The virtual event featured addresses by:
Watch the full Bolstering SA Energy: Saretec-trained wind turbine technicians enter the marketplace virtual event: |