By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Lethbridge College’s new facility to benefit Wind Turbine Technician program

Oct 2, 2017 | 9:13 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The recent opening of Lethbridge College’s new Trades, Technologies and Innovation Facility will mean a big boon for the Wind Turbine technician program.

The three and a half year, $77-million project has translated into the largest trades training centre south of Calgary with the capacity to add more students to growing trade programs.

Program instructor Chris Delisle says the new facility gives them the opportunity to expand if they need to.

“We’ll be able to take more students, so we can expand if the demand is there because after all Alberta did announce that 400 mega watts will be coming online for 2019,” Delisle said. “It also gives us a space that was actually built for us, rather than just dealing with a space that was available to us for the last few years.

Delisle added a big part of the new facility, especially for his program, is the dedicated space.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

Apr 15, 2024

Week-in-review: Street sweeping, policing in Coaldale and #SlowYourRoll

Apr 13, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 12, 2024

Apr 12, 2024

“We previously had a shop that had a suspended floor, so we had to be careful about the components we put in. The components are very heavy in wind turbines, so it’ll help having a dedicated place to be able to do what we need to,” Delisle said.

Wind turbine technician is one of the fastest growing jobs in the United States, and Delisle confirmed that’s the case in Canada as well.

“The growth was huge in Alberta a few years ago, construction slowed right now but that’s looking like it’s going to change,” he stated. “We had classes before of 32 students that all had jobs before the program was over. Everyone of them was getting jobs during construction time.”

The way that Lethbridge College rolls out the program also gives them a leg up, according to Delisle.

“We’re the only program in Canada that’s 1 year, all the others are currently 2 years. We also have the only dedicated, state of the art facility with an actual blade repair shop as well, so fibre glass repair,” Delisle said.