Wind Turbine Technicians Trained Abroad to Strengthen Local Skills and Technology Transfer

A group of seven Wind Turbine Service Technicians from Nordex Energy South Africa (NESA) has returned from a month long intensive international training programme at the Nordex Academy in Turkey—an initiative that forms part of the company’s broader commitment to strengthening South Africa’s renewable energy workforce. By equipping its teams with the skills to service the latest Delta 4000 platform, NESA is advancing local service capacity, supporting long-term talent retention, and contributing to national goals for renewable energy sector skills development.

“This international training is strategically important to both our project delivery and localisation goals,” said Babalwa Kekana, Head of Service at Nordex Energy South Africa. “It equips our teams with essential knowledge of the Delta 4000 platform, enhances operational readiness for our upcoming 631MW pipeline, and promotes peer-to-peer knowledge sharing that benefits the entire organisation.”

Participants included highly experienced service technicians, such as Timna Mandlevu, Local Operations Manager, who brings over a decade of experience to the team. The training will directly support the maintenance of multiple wind farms currently under construction, while also enabling a cascade of learning through internal mentorship and on-the-job workshops.

“The training has a direct impact on operational efficiency – boosting morale, improving fault response times, and reducing the margin for error,” added Kekana. “It also supports our long-term workforce strategy: building a pipeline of highly skilled local employees who are capable of servicing the next generation of wind technology.”

This initiative forms part of Nordex’s broader commitment to strengthening South Africa’s renewable energy workforce. It supports the development of local service and maintenance capacity, improves talent retention through sustained upskilling, facilitates technology transfer from international training centres, and contributes to national goals for skills development in the renewable energy sector.

Beyond the technical outcomes, the programme delivered a personal milestone for many of the technicians. Thuto Chele, a service technician with five years of experience, shared: “Being selected for this training was about more than just representing Nordex—it was about showing that with opportunity and support, we can thrive at a global level. Coming from a background where opportunities were limited, this experience has been life-changing—both professionally and personally.”

The seven technicians will now act as multipliers within their local teams, rolling out what they’ve learned through structured mentorship and knowledge-sharing sessions. This approach ensures the broader NESA workforce benefits from global best practice and accelerates the company’s contribution to inclusive economic growth through local capacity building.

“Nordex is committed to supporting local value chains in a way that promotes sustainable development and inclusive economic growth,” concluded Kekana. “We’re not only investing in our people—we’re investing in the future of South Africa’s wind energy sector.”