A wind turbine technician Take a trip out to sea with the teams who keep offshore wind farms up and running
T
he Teesside Wind Farm is the northeast of England’s first large-scale offshore wind farm. 27 turbines generate low-carbon renewable electricity, powering 40,000 homes and offsetting 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Each high-tech turbine is serviced by a team of specialist technicians who perform essential maintenance. Jonny Corrigan is a senior technician and site leader who manages the upkeep of the Siemens-built wind turbines. The job has its fair share of hazards, and it’s up to Jonny and his team to keep the farm operational in the harsh conditions of the North Sea.
Heavy machinery is often required to complete a job
Jonny Corrigan is the site leader for Siemens
Work at the top Once they’ve reached the top, the engineers move around via a network of staircases.
TOOLBOX TALK 7am
The working day begins onshore with a site brief. I deliver a talk to make sure everyone knows what’s in store for the day ahead. We hear about faults via a SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system that sends us a code of what sort of issue it is. We analyse the problem fully before setting off so we know what tools and equipment we need.
The technicians have a good grasp of electrics, mechanics and hydraulics
FINAL CHECKS 7:30am
The teams are organised and we get ready to go offshore. Before we venture out to sea, we need to check the weather forecast, as heavy winds and lightning can affect an operation. It is also likely that we will need lifting equipment, as many of the components that we repair and replace are incredibly heavy. The larger equipment is lifted using cranes.
OUT TO SEA 8am
Once our marine controller gets the go-ahead from the River Tees estuary coastguard, we’re ready to go. We
068 | How It Works
Each turbine can produce an average of 2.3 megawatts of power of wind energy
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