The BZEE Education Centre for Renewable Energies (BZEE – Bildungszentrum für erneuerbare Energien e.V.) was founded as an association in 2000 by the German WindEnergy Association (BWE – Bundesverband Windenergie e.V.), the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Flensburg and wind energy enterprises in northern Germany. Today the BZEE's membership is spread throughout Germany and represents the key players in the wind energy sector.
BZEE's mission is to develop practice-oriented training programmes tailored to meet the qualification demands of the industry. The high standards that characterize BZEE qualification initiatives are set by an advisory board made up of company and institutional members. Compliance of the training courses to the defined standards is documented by BZEE Certificates, which enjoy widespread recognition in the wind energy sector.
In conducting its training courses, BZEE enrolls instructors active in the industry and cooperates with a range of educational institutions. To meet the industry's needs for highly qualified staff BZEE offers a full-time further education course twice a year for service technicians of wind energy plants.
Training in safety- and rescue is provided on-site at wind energy plants and cater to the specific needs of manufacturers and operators. The training sessions are designed to provide maximum safety and go beyond current legal requirements.
BZEE's technical courses are conducted at various key stages of the wind energy supply chain and are updated continuously in line with technological developments.
BZEE has recently developed a new focus providing a qualification programme for the service and maintenance of offshore wind farms.
BZEE Consult is the service company of the BZEE Association It is responsible for the administration of the association and for the development, coordinatiion and certification of all training courses in compliance with the BZEE quality standards. BZEE Consult maintains a Register of BZEE Certificates and notifies certificate holders of additional training requirements and refresher courses.
In September 2005 a cooperation agreement was signed by BZEE Consult, the German Wind Energy Association BWE and the BWE Service GmbH aimed to promote the high BZEE quality standards nationwide. The joint venture also foresees the pursuit of joint development projects and the implementation of BZEE standards on the international marketplace.
The BZEE advisory board made up of member enterprises and institutions sets the high quality standards for the various qualification levels and assignments. Furthermore, teams of industry experts are enrolled to provide expertise in specialised areas. Compliance of the training courses with the defined standards is documented by BZEE Certificates, which are widely accepted by the wind energy sector.
Training is provided by a pool of specialist instructors active in the industry. The courses are conducted in co-operation with various educational institutions such as Wirtschaftsakademie Schleswig-Holstein in Husum, bfw Berufsfortbildungswerk in Bremen and Bremerhaven as well as the WEQUA Wirtschaftsentwicklungs- und Qualifizierungsgesellschaft mbH in Lauchhammer.
BZEE provides training in the use of PPE ‘Personal Protective Equipment’ to promote accident prevention especially when working at heights. Key elements of the safety programme feature evacuation and rescue from wind energy plants including abseiling techniques: In co-operation with the AkSiWe (specialist working group on industrial safety in wind energy) a 2-day basic training session and a 1-day refresher course are offered in addition to the general annual staff training requirement. This safety concept goes beyond current legal guidelines and has achieved recognition as an industry standard.
The training sessions are conducted at a wind energy training plant at the BZEE facility in Husum, which has been sponsored by the industry and the Ministry of the Economy in Schleswig–Holstein. Course dates are available on request.
Dennis Strohbach of the German Service Company Seilpartner GmbH (Berlin)
at his work (wind farm Drahnsdorf) - Abseiling to look for the rotor blade damage
© Paul Langrock (www.unendlich-viel-energie.de)
This 1-week course for service technicians focusses on the detection and evaluation of damages and on carrying out minor on-site-repairs. Practical training is provided on damage documentation, the repair of rotor blades (GRP- and Epoxy-technology) and the installation and replacement of the aerodynamic mountings (e.g. Vortex generators or stall-strips).
Based on the first of a series Offshore Practioners' Workshops in March 2004 in Husum, a 1-week basic course has been developed in co-operation with the Nautical School Travemünde, OSC (Offshore-Safety-Consult) and Northern-Air Service. A pilot training course was conducted in May 2004 and has been further developed in line with the demands of off shore operations at the Off-shore Workshops.
The course includes basic seamanship skills and training for emergency situations, practical training in the use of helicopters as well as fire fighting.
1-week qualification courses for 30kV-connections are run at regular intervals. Certificate holders are entitled to carry out this category of electrical installation work.
In addition specialised courses are offered on EUP and for specific categories of electrical installation work.
English language courses focussed on wind energy operations have been developed for service technicians with different levels of competency.
A highly successful six-month training programme for service technicians for wind energy plants has been running since 2000. The full-time course is designed to meet the high demand for qualified staff registered by the industry. In 2006 training programmes for groups of 18 trainees will be offered in Husum, Bremen and Bremerhaven and in Lauchhammer. Since the initiation of the training programme a total of 500 qualified technicians have been trained to serve the wind energy sector.
In order to meet the demand for qualified technicians outside of Germany the service technician training programme will be started in the Autumn of 2006 in France in cooperation with Lycee polyvalent Francois Bazin. The programme complies with BZEE standards. Later in 2006 Canadian instructors from St. Lawrence College, Kingston will undergo an instructor training programme in Husum. The first Canadian service technician training programme is scheduled to start in the Spring of 2007.
As in Germany participants in the international training programmes are required to provide the following:
A list of BZEE members is available at:
http://www.bzee.de/index.php?id=24