Welcome to Patrick Hurt’s office. He’s the lead wind technician at the PrairieWinds ND 1 facilities south of Minot, ND. He and his fellow techs inarguably have the best views in the cooperative.
Hurt’s days are busy. Between troubleshooting, working with contractors and doing maintenance, it’s a lot to get done. North Dakota’s climate affects what gets done from day to day. On extremely cold days, some equipment in the turbines simply cannot operate. And wind chills can be dangerous for technicians. But fighting through the frigid weather is worth it for the reward of the good days, he says.
Watch the video to get a feel for a day in the life of a wind turbine technician.
Be sure to pick up a copy the January/February 2012 issue of Basin Today magazine and look for a feature on Patrick Hurt and the work he does for one of the nation’s largest wind projects owned solely by a cooperative.
The last shot in that video takes my breath away. Can you imagine if that was your daily job? Wow.
Wow is right! That’s amazing work Pat!
Wow, this is awesome and yes frightening. Good job Pat
Interesting to see the kind of work involved and logistics of working on these towers. Kudos to Pat! Glad I wasn’t the one who had to take the video at the top! ;o)