How Clipper Windpower Jump-Started Itself . . . Big Time

By Drew Robb

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Most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have had decades to come to terms with the intricacies of the wind industry. As they slowly ramped up from small sub-100-kW machines to the megawatt range, they learned the necessities of fleet operations. Those fleets typically took a decade or two to move beyond a gigawatt.

Such was not the case with Clipper Windpower. Far from starting small, its first machine was the 2.5-MW Liberty turbine, which was first installed serially in 2007. Already, about 500 of these machines have been deployed to bring its total installed capacity to over 1 GW.

Moving up in scale this rapidly required an accelerated ramp-up of technical resources and the creation of a fleet services operation from scratch. Despite the challenges, and some early setbacks (see "The Return of the Clipper Liberty Wind Turbine" in POWER's December 2008 issue), the fleet has been operating at above 95% availability over the past 12 months.

"We are on track to accomplish the corporate goal of 97% availability by the end of 2010," said Larry Willey, vice president for operations, maintenance, service and warranty (OMSW) at Clipper. "Experience has helped us identify lower O&M cost opportunities."

Staffing Up from Scratch

Clipper, America's newest turbine manufacturer, introduced a variable-speed turbine with a distributed power train, four permanent magnet generators, and advanced power electronics. In late 2006, with a year of prototype operation, the company prepared to enter the wind OEM market with its branded 2.5-MW Liberty machine. To facilitate this, Clipper opened a manufacturing and assembly plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Located near major road, rail, and river barge services, it encompasses 330,000 square feet of manufacturing and spare parts distribution space.

The next stage was building a workforce capable of manufacturing hundreds of turbines each year, an installation team to erect those machines throughout the country, and a fleet services arm large enough to keep those machines running and its customers happy (see figure).

Clipper technicians work on a Liberty turbine casing. Courtesy: Clipper Windpower

But finding a workforce with wind energy expertise isn't that easy. Last year, the U.S. alone placed 10 GW of wind power online. With the expansion of wind in the U.S. also came a shortage of qualified wind technicians, managers, and general staff. So where do the resources come from to fulfill an ever-expanding demand? Clipper found an invaluable source: ex-military personnel.

"When faced with the daunting task of building a workforce in such a short timeframe, I turned to military recruiters," said Jeff Maurer, vice president of project management operations (PMO) at Clipper, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 23 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1993. "Former military personnel have the leadership and hands-on skills needed within the renewable sector."

He recalls that there were seven field service employees at that time with plans to install 8 turbines in 2007, 65 in 2008, and 348 in 2009. This level of growth meant that field services would have to grow at an exponential rate in order to have the required personnel to install, commission, and operate the expanding Clipper fleet.

The company worked out an initial plan to identify 10 to15 graduates from armed services academies for mid-level management roles as well as 40 technicians to fulfill installation and commissioning positions. The Clipper team focused on West Point, Naval Academy, and Air Force Academy graduates: men and women who had led divisions aboard naval vessels; Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who had served as troop leaders; and folks with special training that could prove useful in the building of a training program or in managing the transportation and logistics side of the business.

Clipper briefed military placement organizations in detail on what the job requirements would be. Job fairs were scheduled to attract this audience and find possible hires. This program has worked very well for Clipper. The organization grew from 7 in 2006 to 220 in 2009. Its site supervisors, for example, are retired Navy chief petty officers who have worked either on nuclear submarines or aircraft carriers, along with aviation technicians and machinists mates.

With its expanded team in place, the company says it met all its installation and commissioning milestones. Fleet services moved up to 300 staff in very short order.