Worksite Training
Siemens Gamesa | Offshore Wind Training | Vineyard Wind 01
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), pioneered the offshore wind sector in 1991, building the world’s first wind power plant and has since established itself as the global leader in offshore power generation. Vineyard Wind is the United State’s first commercial scale Offshore Wind Farm. With funding from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Siemens partnered with VINCI VR to create the first ever virtual reality wind turbine training simulations to pass Global Wind Organization (GWO) audits and trained the workers tasked with constructing Vineyard Wind.
Overall reduction of on the job injuries
90%
Reduction in Siemen’s cost
3x
More Training Repetitions
30%
Improvement in trainee performance
PROBLEM
Time is the enemy
Set for construction to start in 2023, Vineyard Wind 01 had a tall order to train the local workforce in a short timeframe with limited to no training resources/centers in Massachusetts (MA). Core to the training requirements was GWO certificates; every worker on Vineyard Wind 01 had to complete an extensive list of GWO courses.
However, in MA very few training centers offered critical courses such as Basic Technical Training and Slinger Signaller. In addition, workers from MA had little to no work experience offshore or with wind turbines.
Siemens Gamesa North America has a robust training center in Orlando, Florida with world class equipment and instructors. However, flying workers from MA to Orlando was too expensive and time consuming. For the past 28 years, Siemens has offered new technical employees antiquated training, consisting primarily of power point with limited hands-on training. Due to high overhead costs, limited hands-on training time, and a lack of knowledge retention, the company has chosen to integrate Vinci VR’s virtual reality offshore wind training platform as a fundamental aspect of training programs.
Workers for Vineyard Wind 01 conducting Vinci VR’s GWO BTT Installation and Slinger Signaller training.
Having a [Vinci VR's] tool for a global organization like Siemens Gamesa can enable us to create training that is diverse, effective and relevant.
Dr. Brown,
Former Head of Training, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
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SOLUTION
Training right to you
Working with Siemens Gamesa Instructors, Vinci developed offshore wind training VR modules to augment the most equipment heavy portions of GWO Basic Technical Installation and Slinger Signaller. For Basic Technical Installation, Vinci developed a VR nacelle and integrated a real commissioning checklist in addition to high voltage cabling training. For Slinger Signaller, Vinci created gesture recognition software and integrated realistic hand signals to guide a crane to conduct 3 load lifts: turbine blade, generator, and container. These modules replaced the need for a real nacelle and crane and made those elements fully portable. The tool was integrated into Siemens Gamesa’s GWO course catalog and certified by international standards.
In the summer of 2022, Siemens Gamesa sent instructors and Vinci’s VR headsets to the staging port of the Vineyard Wind 01 project. There, 12 workers tasked with building Vineyard Wind 01 completed the course with Vinci’s VR modules. 100% of students passed the course and did so while eliminating the need to travel and purchase additional equipment. For many of these trainees, the VR modules were the first wind turbine they had seen.
Today, those 12 workers are all building Vineyard Wind 01.