Nunez Community College’s Wind Energy Technology program is ready to expand training and course offerings after passing a Global Wind Organisation audit May 1.
In 2024, Nunez became the first college or university in Louisiana to offer a degree program in the wind energy industry and is set to begin offering workforce certifications for the growing renewable energy industry in the near future.
The Global Wind Organisation (GWO) is recognized worldwide as the top sanctioning body in the wind energy industry.
Students who earn their associate degree and related certificates from Nunez’s Wind Energy Technology program will be qualified to enter the wind energy workforce anywhere in the world. Nunez and its local partners expect the wind energy industry to become a major contributor to energy production regionally, with several land-based wind farms currently in development throughout the state of Louisiana, as well as numerous wind farms in Texas and Mississippi.
Nunez Chancellor Dr. Tina Tinney said Nunez partnered with Energy Innovation in establishing the Wind Energy Technology program specifically to position Louisianans as the workforce leaders in wind energy. To jumpstart the program, Nunez has offered a full scholarship to the first 20 students to enroll in the associate degree program for Wind Energy Technology. The scholarships are funded by a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program grant awarded in December 2023. There are still scholarships available for summer and fall enrollment. Potential students can learn more about scholarship requirements by emailing wind@nunez.edu.
Nunez’s Wind Energy Technology facilities were designed and constructed in 2024 in collaboration with Energy Innovation, which signed a partnership agreement with the college in November 2022 and trained and certified Nunez’s instructors at its facility in Egersund, Norway, in November 2023. The existing facilities thus far include elevated structures to train for working at heights in anticipation of graduates working on wind turbines that are hundreds of feet tall. In addition, the college has designed and built a confined space structure to mimic a wind turbine nacelle (the structure at the top of the turbine) for use in the Advanced Rescue Training certification. The college also added additional training equipment for courses offered this fall that will train students to monitor and maintain the electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic components of wind turbines. Future courses will include specialized certifications in blade repair, control of hazardous energies, and crane and hoist training. Students also learn to operate unmanned aircraft (drones), an increasingly valuable skill in turbine operations and maintenance.
Registration is currently open for the Summer and Fall 2025 terms at www.Nunez.edu. Summer classes begin June 2, and Fall classes begin Aug. 19.
