Can you glimpse the future through a car window? That is exactly what happened to Andreu Hernández. He was not having a clairvoyant moment—but it was a kind of vision all the same. It was the early 2000s, and on his way home from work as an electrical technician in a factory, he spotted a row of towering wind turbines turning solemnly in the distance, silhouetted against the Catalan countryside. The very next day, he handed in his CV to a company he had never heard of: ACCIONA. He had no idea—much like those chance encounters that end in marriage—that it would change the course of his life.

Today, speaking to us from his office in the United States, he explains how he became one of the company’s international experts in wind turbines. The Mr Fix-It that field teams call when an electrical fault seems unsolvable. He also talks about what drew him to this new world. The calling came—and was answered. Within days of submitting his CV, he was invited to an interview.

When engineering meets nature

Back when that vision struck him, Andreu was working in a factory producing insulation, using polyurethane spray machines. He was in charge of maintaining the machinery, the facilities, the pumping units, and the truck clutches. “If I told you everything, I wouldn’t stop all day,” he says, laughing about his long list of responsibilities.

After qualifying as an electrical technician—a field he loved—his teacher encouraged him to go on to university. But Andreu wanted hands-on experience with electrical systems.

“They would say, ‘The German guy is here, Andreu, go with him.’ I loved it because they’d explain everything about the machine to me. Then I had to teach a course to the rest of the maintenance team on everything I had learned. Same thing when people came from other countries.” Knowledge, in its own way, is another form of electricity passed from one person to another.

“When I saw my first wind farm, I thought of it as electrical machinery—but I also saw the chance to work outdoors, and that took me back to my childhood, cutting wood with my father. It was not like being stuck inside a factory—you’re up on a mountaintop.”

The wind farm in Igualada, near Barcelona—the one that changed Andreu’s path—was built in 2005, making it one of Spain’s early pioneers. “I’d only ever seen wind farms in pictures,” he recalls. What caught his attention? “When I saw it, I thought: it’s machinery—a generator with automation. But it also had that second element I loved.”

He tells us about his childhood, cutting firewood with his father. “I thought, working with these turbines means going up into the hills. It’s not like being shut inside a factory building all day.” He had found the vehicle that combined his two great passions: engineering and the outdoors, industrial machinery and open landscapes.

“When can you start?”

He had always been someone with a lot of initiative, he says, so he did not hesitate to drop off his CV. As we mentioned, it did not take long for the call to come. “I remember turning up to the interview just after fixing a machine—I had not had time to change, and I was absolutely filthy,” he recalls. Laughing, he says he even refused to shake the interviewer’s hand. “Don’t worry, have a seat,” they said without fuss.

“Do you know how to read these diagrams?” was the first question. “Yes,” he replied. “And what do you see on this page?” they asked, pointing to a hydraulic diagram of a wind turbine. He answered every question with confidence. “Tell me a bit about what you do,” they said. And the next question was: “When can you start?”

In those early days of wind energy, there were plenty of mechanics but very few electricians who really understood how wind turbines worked. “It’s easier to explain the mechanical side to an electrician than the electrical side to a mechanic. They needed someone to round out the team.”

“Over the years, my phone number started making the rounds for support with breakdowns—until one day, I even got a call from South Korea.”

Word quickly spread that this machine enthusiast had a special touch with turbines. “Over the years, my number started getting passed around. People from the next wind farm over would call. Then someone from Valencia, then Pamplona.” One day, he got a call from South Korea. They were having trouble programming the PLCs. “Someone in Pamplona gave them my number.” Just like that, he began offering technical support.

“[The trip to Poland] was the first time I ever stepped out of my comfort zone. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, without a doubt.”

The Polish adventure opened his eyes, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. What is more, it triggered a cascade of new opportunities. “About a month in, I was washing my hands after work and saw a machine still stopped, with an alarm flashing.” He rang the technicians and offered to help. “When I climbed up the turbine, I told them that nothing they’d done had addressed the alarm. I had it sorted in twenty minutes.” The wind farm manager, who was up in the turbine with him, told him they already knew how to clean and grease—but it would be great if Andreu could teach them how he had fixed the fault.

He spent his second month helping them troubleshoot issues—and teaching them about “mechanics, hydraulics, electricity, power electronics… everything about the machine.” He even had to look up all the technical terms in English. “The Polish team wanted me to stay, but I told them I had two kids in Catalonia and had to go back.” Still, they wrote to the Pamplona office to praise Andreu’s work. The next thing he heard was: “What you did in Poland—could you do it in Croatia?” That was the start of a global tour: South Africa, South Korea, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, the US, Canada…

“The opportunities you find in the US just do not exist in other countries—here, technical skills are truly valued.”

Of all the countries he’s worked in, he says he fell in love with Poland personally—and with the US professionally. “The opportunities here are like nowhere else. Skills are really valued. I’ve never felt more appreciated than I have here.”

A new life in the US

Andreu now lives near the Tatanka wind farm, straddling the border of North and South Dakota. It has become his home base. From there, he travels to other parts of the US and Canada. He tells us he had managed fine with a basic international English in many countries. “But when I got to Oklahoma… that was something else. I could barely understand them!” The American accent was a challenge, and he had to up his game fast. “I started listening to stand-up comedy routines over and over,” he says. “Now I think in English. I’m starting to forget a bit of my Catalan and Spanish,” he laughs.

A job beyond expectations

Through his work, Andreu has fulfilled many of his passions, including electrical systems and being close to nature. He tells us about the morning mist at the Vilobí wind farm in Spain, and the views from the turbines at Lamec, a wind farm on a fishing island in Canada. “You climb up the turbines and see the sea with the fishing boats, and a dense forest with moose—it’s beautiful. I also went to help at the Red-Tailed Hawk photovoltaic park with a communications issue, and there were sheep grazing between the panels.”

“When you climb down from the turbines, sometimes you find the cows just staring right at you.”

He says he has got used to the cold—it is all about dressing properly. “You go out wrapped up with just your eyes showing.” It must be freezing up in the turbines, right? “Not really—our generators in Tatanka have built-in heating. It might even be colder in Oklahoma.”

“In Tatanka, we’ve had lows of -36°C—and whole weeks where the high was -20°C. […] The latest-generation turbines at Tatanka already come with built-in heating.”

Twenty years in wind energy

Andreu has been a privileged witness to the global rise of wind power over the past two decades. “What has changed the most is the size of the turbines. They’re absolutely massive now. The blades are over seventy metres long.” Any specific example? “What’s impressed me most recently are the machines we’ve got at the Forty Mile wind farm in Calgary—they’re giants. We look like Oompa Loompas next to them. You see a technician inside the hub and they look like a kid with a harness and helmet,” he says. “There’s also more and more focus on workplace safety. It’s been a very positive evolution.”

“The digitalisation of wind turbines allows us to run remote tests to anticipate faults.”

The wind sector has not been immune to the wave of digitalisation. “There’s more and more integration with IT, or with sensors of all kinds—like vibration monitors—that help anticipate faults. We can run remote tests to detect which areas need attention.” One of the new frontiers of renewable energy, he adds, is storage. “It’s a shame to waste energy that could be harnessed. Storage is essential—it also helps to stabilise prices.” He has already gained experience in this area through his work on the Cunningham megabatteries in Texas.

“Working in renewables at ACCIONA is a constant learning experience. The turbines still hold secrets from me.”

Before wrapping up, Andreu reflects on his experience at ACCIONA, which is now approaching twenty years. “I always say that working in this field and at this company, you learn so much—electrically and mechanically. I’m still learning, even after all these years. These turbines still hold secrets for me. Everything you learn here, you can apply to your work anywhere. This is a company that really encourages ongoing training.” And he adds: “And if you come from Spain, the cultural and language enrichment is incredible.”

In short, thanks to wind energy, Andreu has satisfied his hunger for knowledge and found a way to share it—all while enjoying life outdoors. But he has also fulfilled needs he was not even aware of: travelling the world and discovering new cultures. All of it sparked by that moment years ago, staring out of a car window and seeing something far beyond the horizon.