NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI – Revolution Wind plans to begin construction of a massive wind farm off the south coast of Rhode Island in 2023.

With this project in mind, the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce has worked to help train high school students and adults for careers in wind energy through its WindWinRI program.

“The chamber developed a career path in offshore wind four years ago and the program we created is called WindWinRI and through this program we have trained dozens of adults on the training opportunities on offshore wind, such as working at height and survival at sea and transporting wind energy at sea, â€said Kristin Urbach, Executive Director of NK Chamber.

Urbach said that through these efforts she and the chamber began to notice that the available workforce was getting older and two and a half years ago developed the first and so far the only Aeolian High School certificate. offshore, which has since been adopted by four Rhode. Island High Schools: North Kingstown, Exeter-West Greenwich, Block Island and Charles E. Shea High School in Pawtucket.

As a natural extension of those certification programs, said Urbach, it has teamed up with KidWind, a Midwest-based wind energy curriculum developer, to host a national and regional wind turbine competition in the United States. Rhode Island, the first state in New England to do so.

“What KidWind did was they did a virtual competition where it’s a simulation, so the students work in a simulation lab to develop a wind turbine and place it on wind farms. », Declared Urbach, before presenting it to the judges who determine their placement.

“The top two teams will then be eligible to participate in the national competition in June,” said Urbach.

The chamber was originally intended to host the competition at the CIRB with the four competing schools, but the competition was canceled due to COVID-19. This year, they were able to run the contest virtually with three of the four high schools; Exeter-West Greenwich, Block Island and Shea, field teams.

The teams competed on their wind turbine simulations last Friday and Monday, the winners were announced in a virtual ceremony, with Exeter-West Greenwich taking top honors, while Shea’s two teams took second and third respectively. place and Block Island received honorable. mentions.

“When I heard that we had won first place, I was very proud of my students,†said Amy Biagioni-Chmura, science teacher at Exeter-West Greenwich. “They worked incredibly hard, not only on simulation, but also on learning wind theory, calculating the Betz limit, and researching the environmental and economic advantages and disadvantages of offshore wind energy. . “

In the two and a half years since the program launched, Biagioni-Chmura said she has noticed the positive impact it has had on her students.

“This program has greatly benefited my students,†said Biagioni-Chmura. “They now have a knowledge base and skill set that is unique to a very small student population, but applicable to a diverse set of fields. Participation in this program has also helped students solidify their plans to enter the field of engineering, as they now have both theoretical and practical experience to make an informed decision.

State officials have taken note, such as Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, who spoke at the virtual ceremony on Monday.

“This event is such an exciting look at the future of Rhode Island,†said Gorbea. “Our state’s emerging leaders are gaining valuable experience in the field of renewable energy, which will become a vital part of our economy and infrastructure in the future.”

KidWind founder and director Michael Arquin also spoke, praising the efforts of high school students as well as the chamber for hosting the contest in Ocean State.

“There are 800 students participating in the KidWind National Simulation Challenge,†said Arquin. “To date, some of the students from Rhode Island have been placed in the top 10 in this competition. Many thanks to the teachers and students and the WindWinRI program at the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce for hosting Rhode Island’s first high school wind turbine competition. We hope that these teams, who have all qualified, will continue to participate in our National KidWind Challenge in June.

For Urbach, having this program is crucial for the success of RI’s offshore wind future.

“(His) crucial because we don’t have a lot of talent at the moment who could enter the field. Therefore, it is essential that we train the students for these upcoming jobs.â€Said Urbach. “They start building the wind farms next year. They’ve had site approval for a lot of them, I think there are 13 on the shore is over there, so it’s really essential that we train these kids and continue to provide training for adults, because what we found is with the trainings. that they are trained for the World Wind Organization (GWO) international standards for adults and that this is a transferable skill set.

In the future, she hopes to see this program continue to grow and spread both across the state and across the country.

“I hope this will generate interest and excitement,†said Urbach. “The students were thrilled to be a part of it and therefore by organizing this competition more people are aware of the opportunities of offshore wind and it is something tangible. It’s something that they experience on the pitch so I think it would be amazing.

She also sees a bright future for wind turbine competitions.

“We keep thinking about the robotics competition and we remember when these started they started small and it’s very similar with the wind turbine competitions,†said Urbach. “We see this will continue to grow and generate and generate excitement.”

For more information on the WindWinRI program, visit their website, windwinri.com.