Women in Operation and Maintenance in the wind energy industry

It is crucial to keep in mind that people are what actually count when working in the AI and IoT sectors. Our ultimate goal at ANNEA not only is to have “healthy” wind turbines and provide the best-in-class predictions. In addition we strive to optimise operations and make the work environment more inviting for all to enter the industry. That is why, we believe increasing the number of women in this industry is incredibly important.

Diversity is one of the key values at ANNEA and we try to keep an eye on how the renewable energy sector is developing in this direction. During the last few months, we were lucky to have Khashiya Adegbite in the ANNEA marketing team. We were happy to support her research on the topic “Women in the wind energy” as a part of her internship program. She reached out to women who work in the wind energy industry in the Operations & Maintenance sector. Khashiya asked them about their challenges, work-life balance and their perspective on the future development of the market. Following this, Khashiya published an interview with Arancha Leiros who works in Operation and Maintenance for wind turbines. 

INSIGHTS ABOUT WOMEN IN THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY

Arancha gave us very insightful and in-depth replies about her role and women in the industry. In her research, Khashiya looked up a variety of women in the wind energy sector whilst focusing on technicians in the industry. Then she selected several candidates to interview and contacted them by email and LinkedIn to discuss the industry and their role within it. This gave her an insight into their challenging roles and passions. Alongside her research into statistics she interviewed with Arancha Leiros. You can read Khashiya’s article and the interview HERE.

According to a report by IRENA and the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program, today women represent 21% of the wind workforce globally. Furthermore, women represent only 8% of the senior management roles in the wind energy sector. It is almost the same percentage as in the oil and gas industry but is significantly less than in the renewable energy sector.

THE INITIATIVES

Today there are a few initiatives designed to accelerate the female workforce in the wind energy sector and encourage them towards leadership positions.
One of the most celebrated and successful initiatives is Women in Wind Global Leadership Program designed by The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Also, the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET).

We hope that the number of successful careers of women in this industry will grow together with the market and there will be more great female wind energy professionals as Arancha Leiros in the future.