Developing and testing a new tool to foster wind energy sector industrial skills

Davide Astiaso Garcia; Daniele Groppi; Siamak Tavakoli

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124549

Developing and testing a new tool to foster wind energy sector industrial skills

J Clean Prod. 2021 Feb 1:282:124549. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124549. Epub 2020 Oct 6.

Authors

Davide Astiaso Garcia¹, Daniele Groppi², Siamak Tavakoli³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Planning, Design, and Technology of Architecture (DPDTA), Sapienza University of Rome, Via Via Flaminia 72, 00196, Rome, Italy.
² Department of Astronautics, Electrical and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana, 18, 00184, Rome, Italy.
³ Brunel Innovation Centre, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom.

Abstract

The wind energy sector has seen an increasing growth in the last decade and this is foreseen to continue in the next years. This has posed several challenges in terms of skilled and prepared professionals that have always to be up to date in an industry that is constantly changing. Thus, teaching tools have gained an increasing interest. The present research reviewed the state of the art in terms of digital interactive training tools pinpointing that the existing options do not feature the user involvement in the development of the training material. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to develop and test an innovative method based on gamification to increase wind energy sector industrial skills, providing a digital interactive environment in the form of a new user-friendly software that can allow its users to train and contribute to the teaching and learning contents. The first methodological step deals with the associated background studies that were required at strategy implementation and development stages, including market analysis and technology trade-offs, as well as the general structure and the implementation steps of the software design. Obtained results pinpointed that with minimal use of web-based database and network connectivity, a mobile phone application could work in the form of a time-scored quiz application that remotely located staff at wind energy farms could benefit from. The technological innovation brought by this research will substantially improve the service of training, allowing a more dynamic formative management contributing to an improvement in the competitiveness and a step towards excellence for the whole sector.

Keywords: AEE, Spanish Wind Energy Associations; ANEV, Italian Wind Energy Associations; API, Application programming interface; BAAS, Backend As A Service; EU, European Union; GHG, Greenhouse Gas; GUI, Graphic User Interface; GWO, Global Wind Organization; HV, high voltage; ICT, Information and Communication Technologies; INCUAL, National Institute of Qualifications; Industrial skill development; LRS, Learning Record Store; O&M, Operation and maintenance; OER, Open Educational Resources; RE, Renewable Energy; RES, Renewable Energy Source; SCADA, Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition; Teaching learning material; WTG, Wind Turbine Generator; Wind energy education.