This North American Wind Research and Training Center (www.mesalands.edu/wind) is being developed to satisfy an urgent demand in the utility wind operations and maintenance industry. Modern utility-scale wind farms are being developed at a rapid pace and the operations and maintenance side of the industry cannot hire qualified wind technicians fast enough.
The Center will be unique in that it will feature a comprehensive array of training programs (courses offered will be a five-day seminar on a specific aspect of operations and maintenance such as blade repair, an eight-week certificate for basic operations and maintenance activities, and a two-year Associates Degree in Wind). The Center will house a state-of-the-art facility that will house classrooms, laboratories/workshops, and a bay to house large blades, tower sections, etc.
The Center will also feature a research component, in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and New Mexico State University. The research will fill a current void in the wind research and development industry by emphasizing operations and maintenance-specific components. The NAWRTC will have a utility-scale wind turbine on-site to power the Center, Mesalands Community College, and, if all goes according to plan, the Tucumcari School District, which abuts the Mesalands Community College property.
Goal: North American Wind Research and Training Center fully funded, wind turbine installed. Expected completion: Summer 2006.
The North American Wind Research Training Center is a workforce development and training project, a distributed generation wind energy project, and an educational project all wrapped in one. Although this is a public-private partnership with both public and private funding sources and with a diverse group of entities involved, the Regional Development Corporation is the primary entity driving it forward. Regional Development Corporation has teamed up with The Idea Group of Santa Fe to complete the Feasibility Study and Business Plan.