Architecture and Engineering · Holland code RIC

Wind Energy Engineers

Design underground or overhead wind farm collector systems and prepare and develop site specifications.

Also called: Engineer, Project Engineer, Utility Engineer, Wind Energy Consultant, Turbine Measurements Engineer, Wind Farm Siting and Development Consultant, Wind Turbine Design Engineer.

O*NET 17-2199.10

At a glance

US median annual pay: $122,930; Middle half earn $90,970 to $158,090. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 70% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Create or maintain wind farm layouts, schematics, or other visual documentation for wind farms.
Provide engineering technical support to designers of prototype wind turbines.
Recommend process or infrastructure changes to improve wind turbine performance, reduce operational costs, or comply with regulations.
Investigate experimental wind turbines or wind turbine technologies for properties such as aerodynamics, production, noise, and load.
Create models to optimize the layout of wind farm access roads, crane pads, crane paths, collection systems, substations, switchyards, or transmission lines.
Develop active control algorithms, electronics, software, electromechanical, or electrohydraulic systems for wind turbines.
Develop specifications for wind technology components, such as gearboxes, blades, generators, frequency converters, or pad transformers.
Test wind turbine components, using mechanical or electronic testing equipment.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Mathematics3.5 / 5
Active Listening3.4 / 5
Writing3.4 / 5
Speaking3.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

Engineering and Technology4.8 / 5
Mathematics4.4 / 5
Design4.4 / 5
Physics4.2 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Computers and Electronics4.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic82
Investigative59
Artistic20
Social7
Enterprising35
Conventional52

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

hydropower engineer · DE Wasserkraftingenieur/Wasserkraftingenieurin · FR ingénieur en hydroélectricité/ingénieure en hydroélectricité
aerodynamics engineer · DE Ingenieur Aerodynamik/Ingenieurin Aerodynamik · FR aérodynamicien/aérodynamicienne
energy engineer · DE Energieingenieur/Energieingenieurin · FR ingénieur en énergie/ingénieure en énergie
energy systems engineer · DE Ingenieur Energiesysteme/Ingenieurin Energiesysteme · FR ingénieur procédés énergie/ingénieure procédés énergie
renewable energy engineer · DE Ingenieur Erneuerbare Energien/Ingenieurin Erneuerbare Energien · FR ingénieur R&D en énergies renouvelables/ingénieure R&D en énergies renouvelables

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Mechanical engineers (professional) (2122)94,400 employed
Quantity surveyors (2453)45,300 employed
Civil engineers (2121)94,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.79. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (17-2199).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test