Tobias Terlinden, an Offshore Service Technician, has specialised in Troubleshooting and Technical Training for almost 12 years.
From 2010 to 2014, Tobias worked onshore in Germany for a free service provider, doing maintenance, troubleshooting at several different manufacturers, and some large component replacement dismantling. At the end of 2014, he started working for Siemens Gamesa as an offshore Service Technician in the German North Sea. This role started as a commissioning position and later transitioned to a permanent role in the service until today.
When asking Tobias what attracted him to the wind industry, he said:
“When I finished my apprenticeship as an Automotive Mechatronics Technician in 2007 at Mercedes, I wanted to do something that wasn’t too far away from my previous profession, but since I didn’t want to do that anymore, I had to think about something else. Because we had a lot of turbines in the west of Germany, I got the idea to find out more about it and saw the great potential and the many parallels that exist to the technology of a car.”
To reach his current position, Tobias had to complete plenty of sector training to gain the skills needed to land his dream job. Twelve years ago, he completed his retraining course, where he trained as a Service Technician for Wind Turbines. Here, Tobias learned the basic training, Working at Heights, First Aid, Height Rescue, Hydraulics, basics of Electrical Engineering, Automation Technology and much more. This took roughly six months and was followed by an examination before the Bremen Chamber of Commerce. Most of this training is now standardised in the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) guidelines.
From 2010 to 2014, Tobias worked onshore in Germany for a free service provider, doing maintenance, troubleshooting at several different manufacturers, and some large component replacement dismantling. At the end of 2014, he started working for Siemens Gamesa as an offshore Service Technician in the German North Sea. This role started as a commissioning position and later transitioned to a permanent role in the service until today.
When asking Tobias what attracted him to the wind industry, he said:
“When I finished my apprenticeship as an Automotive Mechatronics Technician in 2007 at Mercedes, I wanted to do something that wasn’t too far away from my previous profession, but since I didn’t want to do that anymore, I had to think about something else. Because we had a lot of turbines in the west of Germany, I got the idea to find out more about it and saw the great potential and the many parallels that exist to the technology of a car.”
To reach his current position, Tobias had to complete plenty of sector training to gain the skills needed to land his dream job. Twelve years ago, he completed his retraining course, where he trained as a Service Technician for Wind Turbines. Here, Tobias learned the basic training, Working at Heights, First Aid, Height Rescue, Hydraulics, basics of Electrical Engineering, Automation Technology and much more. This took roughly six months and was followed by an examination before the Bremen Chamber of Commerce. Most of this training is now standardised in the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) guidelines.
Tobias has since completed countless training courses, both within the company and according to GWO guidelines.
Tobias said: “The training courses that are a bit more specialised and out of the ordinary are, for example, HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training), crane driving licence or a second training course as an industrial electrician specialising in operating technology. Since my first apprenticeship had a strong mechanical component, I needed another one that would make me a qualified electrician with a final examination before the Chamber of Commerce in Hanover. The retraining also took six months. This training has become very popular in recent years and qualifies you for a job in the wind industry. For example, in the production of cars to troubleshoot or maintain the robot-supported systems or automated machines (car factories). Of course, it’s easiest if you have Basic Technical Training to make it easier to get started as I did back then. However, lateral entry with further training or retraining is also very possible.”
We asked how Tobias’ career had developed in the industry, and he told us that he first worked as a Service Technician in Belgium, France, and Poland, installing retrofits on GE turbines. Following this, he went into a company that services many different turbine manufacturers, with turbines ranging from young to old. Talking about this work, Tobias said:
“Here you learn a lot and improvise and go into detail to make old components functional again. This has changed in the meantime in that individual parts or components are no longer repaired but exchanged for a new part. This is because the turbines are very powerful. Here, a failure on one day can go into the tens of thousands, then everything has to be done very quickly and the part quickly flies into the rubbish before one takes the time to repair it.”
We were even lucky enough to have Tobias share what a typical day working offshore looks like:
“Onshore and offshore are of course very different here. It’s a completely different world.”
Offshore looks like this:
“I work from a Service Operation Vessel (SOV), which means that everyone has their own cabin, which was not common in the past. The alarm clock rings at about 6am. From there I have breakfast and prepare food for the whole day. There are three meals a day as a buffet. At the buffet, I then pack everything for the day. We have a twelve-hour day, so that’s sometimes quite a lot to prepare to stay alive on the turbine!
“After the second coffee, we meet with the team and look at the planning that was already done by the office the day before. Do we still need anything, has something changed? Spare parts or tools, for example.
“Then we get into our survival suits, grab our radios, and go into the toolbox talk with the planners and senior techs begin to talk about the tasks and the weather. Weather is extremely important and safety-relevant in our case. What is the wave height, wind, is fog reported or even lightning?
“If the ship has craned our equipment onto the Transition Piece (TP) of the turbine, we are then transferred to the turbine with the gangway, which hydraulically compensates for the swell. Depending on the project, this may also be a Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV).
“On the turbine, everyone knows what their job is. One does the pre-use check of the lift, the next starts with LOTO (lockout tag out). The next one prepares everything for the crane and then the first ones go up with the lift. When we have taken over the control and the ship is out of the danger zone, we crane and turn the nacelle into position. Depending on the job, we spend the whole day on one turbine or change very often for different jobs.
“After the ship has picked up, we prepare everything for the next day. Then we go on to the debriefing and go through the orders and used material. From there we go to the shower, for dinner, or to the gym. Of course, we also have some common rooms where you can watch films or football with your colleagues, play PlayStation, table football, darts or just chat.
“Every day is different and varied.”
To end our interview with Tobias, we asked him some questions that will help anyone looking to enter the industry.
When asked about his favourite part of the job, Tobias told us:
“The variety that comes with this job. Besides the plannable work, troubleshooting is the interesting and exciting part. Also, (besides the weather conditions) the fantastic sunrises and sunsets. Plus, the team spirit when you have a team at the site or the turbine with whom the work doesn’t feel like work sometimes.”
Now, we all know that entering the sector requires hard work, so Tobias has offered his advice for anyone looking to work in the wind industry:
“Keep at it! Educate yourself, get in touch with service companies, manufacturers, and training companies and just ask a lot of questions to those who are already working in the industry or who are training, like training companies. Network with people there or use networks like LinkedIn and create a meaningful profile. And always be honest, the industry is relatively small, and people know each other.
“My top three tips for working in the industry would be:
- Educate yourself further and make intensive use of the internet.
- Network with people and companies, and build up contacts, a lot comes naturally once you get in and simply ask questions. Ask questions and be honest.
- Don’t be disappointed if you don’t like or enjoy the job at one company or your current role. There are many great companies out there with different and varied jobs, and great leaders. For example, if you don’t like service, try construction, heavy lift, trainer, inspector or even blade repair.
There are countless opportunities in our industry.”
To finish our interview, Tobias reminds us of the importance of completing the correct training. He said:
“Safety and well-trained staff are everything. But experience shows that it is also up to the people to adopt and apply this. The employer must look carefully at who they hire. It’s also about the safety of your colleague who also has a family at home and not only about your own.”
Complete Training Solutions can help provide you with the necessary training needed to enter the wind industry. We have a range of courses on offer with a variety of different specialisms, all of which you can find listed here on our website. For those who are unsure about which course to take, we invite you to get in touch so that we can offer our specialist advice and guidance.
