In Hohendodeleben near Magdeburg, three rotor blade teams from Prokon are based. Guido Czersanowski explains what excites him and his colleagues about working in wind and weather, high above the ground.
When Guido Czersanowski describes his work, it sounds like this: "We are constantly under pressure, we have to be constantly vigilant," says the 47-year-old, "and we don't look down." No wonder, as his workplace is usually at a lofty height, between 60 and 100 meters above the ground. Czersanowski, known to all as "Czersi," leads the three rotor blade teams stationed in Hohendodeleben near Magdeburg for Prokon, with a total of eight technicians. Along with his colleagues Paul Behrends and Michael Braune-Koch, he is out and about every day, maintaining and repairing Prokon's wind turbine rotors nationwide.
Hohendodeleben is one of five locations from which a total of 104 employees in the Service & Operation department keep the 329 Prokon wind turbines in Germany operational. And the "Blade Boys" - as the rotor blade teams are internally referred to - take care of the largest components, the blades that absorb the wind forces and drive the shafts that generate the electricity.
The typical workday starts for "Czersi" and his two colleagues Paul and Michael in the Mercedes Sprinter, with a nine-meter long trailer attached to it containing the open working platform. Everyone in the team comes from a background in manual trades. Upon arrival at the wind turbine that needs inspection or repair, the "Blade Boys" set up their 3.85-meter high working platform and attach the two support cables and two safety ropes at dizzying heights on the nacelle of the turbine. The setup of the two-tonne heavy platform takes about four and a half hours, and it is then slowly lifted at a rate of eight meters per minute.
"One must already be height-compatible," says Guido Czersanowski. The technicians inspect the entire rotor blade and look for damage. These can be caused by lightning strikes – which can burn a one square metre area of laminate – or by material fatigue. Czersanowski and his colleagues then laminate the burnt areas anew, replace fatigued blade ribs, and check the connections. It is mostly about superficial repairs, which help prevent damages in advance.
"In summer it's too hot, in winter it's too cold," describes Czersanowski the challenges of the profession, "we are exposed to the elements in all weather conditions." The technicians estimate one working day per rotor blade on average, and for one wind turbine, they need around four to five days, including setup, dismantling, and travel times.
Until early November, the teams work externally, and then in the winter months they climb into the interior of the blades, which are each covered by three chambers in their outer shells, to inspect the material for cracks and weak points. When the weather gets nicer again towards the end of March, the "Blade Boys" move their work back outside.
A tough job – what fascinates Guido Czersanowski so much that he has been doing it for ten years? "The interaction with my great colleagues – because our task can only be solved together as a team," he says, "and we directly do something for the environment – one must be passionate about that."
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