SARETEC

The South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC) is a specialised wind training facility located in Cape Town, South Africa. An initiative of the South African Government, SARETEC receives much valued support from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through the South African-German Energy Programme (SAGEN), implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Western Cape Provincial Government via Green Cape, The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) via the Department of Energy (DoE), in conjunction with the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and Denmark’s development cooperation (DANIDA).

SARETEC was initiated in response to the demand for skilled operations and maintenance personnel in the wind and solar industries emanating from South Africa implementing the world’s first Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). SARETEC became fully operational in January 2016 with a mission to provide accredited renewable energy education to South Africa and beyond. This entails training in wind, solar, energy efficiency and biomass for industry. The vision for SARETEC is to strive towards a high quality skilled workforce for the renewable energy industry in Africa and integral to this is the ability to integrate classroom learning and practical training for which SARETEC’s infrastructure has been specifically designed.

SARETEC offers an accredited and recognised South African qualification for Wind Turbine Service Technicians. This formal training is an internationally recognised qualification and offered both on a fulltime and modularized short course basis. This training programme is SAQA (South African Qualification Authority) accredited and was developed in conjunction with SETA’s (Skills Education and Training Authorities), original equipment manufacturers, as well as governmental departments and agencies, i.e. South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), Green Cape and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Thus far SARETEC has directly trained over 50 Wind Turbine Service Technicians (WTST) for the South African market on this qualification and is continuously addressing market needs on the African continent. SARETEC has offered further short course training to groups of wind turbine service technicians in speciality areas such as hydraulics, bolting and composites.

SARETEC has been a RSC Academy network training partner since April 2016 and can also offer the suite of courses from this industry recognised German Academy. The qualification levels of RSC modules comply with the reference levels of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Each individual training module meets the skills requirements for maintenance and service found in the international wind industry. Each teaching component emphasises real-life conditions in the classroom, laboratories and workshop.

SARETEC is on track to be a Global Wind Organisation (GWO) certified training facility, as well as ISO 9001 certified, and has positioned itself to offer the GWO Basic Safety Training (BST) and Basic Technical Training (BTT) qualifications.

SARETEC trains and qualifies wind turbine service technicians for the South African Wind Energy industry against accredited SAQA qualifications, accepted throughout Africa. SARETEC offers a wide range of industry–recognised short courses and workshops within the renewable energy sector. With in-house expertise, SARETEC has the ability to offer any customised course to suit specific needs. Having established strong relationships with Enercon, GE Renewable Energy, Goldwind, Nordex, Siemens and Vestas; SARETEC foresees the need for customised training needs emanating from the OEM’s that operate on the African continent. SARETEC is able to provide an accredited Wind Turbine Service Technician (WTST) qualification in a fully modular/short course format, allowing candidates to obtain the qualification. The modular approach leads to the full WTST qualification but allows for companies to release candidates for short periods to achieve the formal qualification.

The broad outline of the course entails:

The duration of the course is 5 months theory and practical work followed by a 2 months minimum in-service training on a wind farm. Admission recommendations would be individuals having an artisan qualification in either:

All applicants are evaluated and are subject to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), a high level of fitness and good health, ability to work at height and in confined spaces, safety conscious individuals and detailed planners.