The 23 metre tower is the centrepiece of the new Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Training Centre (APRETC) to equip future wind turbine professionals with the skills they need to safely work at heights on the giant energy generators.

Federation TAFE's manager sales, marketing and engagement Bill Mundy said the weekend announcement that the 215-turbine Golden Plains Wind Farm had been given the green light was a reminder of the burgeoning demand in to the future for trained wind farm workers and the need for a dedicated training centre.

Approval for the wind farm, one of the biggest in Australia which will be built at Rokewood, will see renewables company WestWind now move to the next phase of development for the $2 billion project.

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Mr Mundy said the installation of the wind turbine training tower and the APRETC, a partnership between the university and the companies involved in the Asia Pacific renewable energy sector to help address a skills shortage, would help address a skills shortage in the fast-growing industry.

The tower will be used to train students to safely work at heights and give them real-world experience of what it is like being inside a wind energy turbine.

After completing the course they will gain a working at height qualification and be accredited with Global Wind Organisation basic safety training.

The tower contains a series of platforms inside which students move through using different ladder systems, different harnesses and different skills.

Wind turbines contain a small lift within their towers, so workers must also be able to safely exit the lift at height if it breaks down, and the top internal platform of the tower is a "yaw deck" which would rotate a wind turbine nascelle (hub and blades) in to and out of the wind.

Students will also learn how to safely lower themselves down the outside of the turbine tower from the very top platform.

"From the outside it looks like a cylinder with a platform on the top, but it's what's inside that counts," Mr Mundy said.

"This is the first stage of training for an industry clamouring for skilled workers - for turbine technicians, blade repair technicians, electrical engineers, route integration engineer ... these are the skills in shortage in this industry.

"As the industry proliferates as a result of us moving to a zero-emission based economy and the exit of coal fire power generation, there will only be more jobs in renewables."

The working at heights certification is the first in a series of courses that will be offered through the centre. Next year Federation TAFE will complete the refurbishment of a facility to conduct apprentice training for the role of a blade repair technician, and in the future will offer turbine technician training as well.

"We will be offering the first lot of training in the tower in the first quarter of 2022, but that's just the first step for us. By the middle of next year we will be in a position to have world-first blade technician apprenticeship training available ... a Certificate III in Engineering Composites contextualised around the blade technician role," Mr Mundy said.

Mr Mundy said the industry had been very supportive of development of the apprenticeship program, providing access to subject matter experts and helping design the training space being built.

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"Then in 2023 we are working toward offering, for the very first time in the Asia Pacific region, turbine technician training which will occur over six months based at Mount Helen.

"It's not just Federation, but industry who have worked with us to develop this. To be able to stand here and see this tower go up and start to deliver training, the industry will benefit and our local economy will benefit.

"It will take us time to grow but ultimately Victoria will be at the forefront of satisfying the need for a trained workforce to work in wind turbines," he said.

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