Area students can start learning wind energy technology next fall, thanks to an offer by Cloud County Community College to loan the necessary equipment to teach two classes and sizeable donations from others.
The local program was shy about $245,000 to pay for the equipment, which CCCC uses every other semester.
Total startup costs for the program are $613,000.
The USD 257 Board of Education agreed Monday night to offer the wind energy technology program starting in the fall of 2019.
The wind energy technology program will join welding and construction management courses offered at the Rural Regional Technology Center at LaHarpe. Students can earn certification that will allow them to continue their education or go straight into the workforce.
The wind energy program is offered through Cloud County Community College, with students earning credit in general education from Allen Community College.
EDP Renewables, a Houston-based company building a wind farm in eastern Allen County, donated nearly $150,000 for the program. That money will be used as matching funds for a Jobs for Innovative Industry Skills Training (JIIST) grant of $110,000 offered through the Kansas Department of Commerce.
That money provides startup costs to pay for four state-of-the-art training equipment systems: electronics, AC/DC, sensor package and motor/generator training.
A $100,000 donation from Allen County for economic development will provide for classroom basics, including an instructors salary, computer laptops, tables and chairs, and other items.
That still leaves two training systems that need to be purchased: for mechanical systems and hydraulics.
Cloud County Community Colleges Renewable Energy program offers those courses in alternating semesters, which means the training equipment is not in use one semester each school year. Cloud will offer the hydraulic system the fall semester, and swap it out for the mechanical system for the spring semester.
USD 257 Superintendent Stacey Fager said Cloud County was eager to get the program up and running.
Every year we wait is just another class of students who arent going to have that opportunity for this type of training, Fager said.
In the meantime, Cloud administrators will continue to pursue funding options. Other wind farm companies have shown interest in helping fund the program, but have not finalized donations.
Wind turbine technicians are among the fastest growing occupations, according to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. A wind technician installs, inspects, maintains, operates and repairs wind turbines. Annual salaries range from $36,000 to more than $76,000, with a median of $52,260.
An orientation for interested students was scheduled for 1 p..m. today at Iola High School. Students from area schools were also invited to attend. The program will be offered to area high school students; if classroom space remains, it will be offered to others in the community. There is no cost to students; each district pays any fees for their students. Non-students will be required to pay fees.
