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Renewable energy has increasingly become popular in recent years because of climate change, resource depletion, energy costs, and many other reasons. Like any other project, renewable energy is faced with many risks and challenges; to help mitigate these risks is project management. Any renewable energy project’s success depends on internal and external factors; this explains the need for skilled project managers. This article explains why project managers are vital and the role they play in ensuring the success of renewable energy projects.
The Importance of a Project Manager for Renewable Energy Projects –
Project management gives projects a competitive advantage and ensures their success. Renewable energy is among the fastest-growing industries globally, which means there are numerous opportunities and risks. The challenges that renewable project managers face are unique. Hence, they are required to anticipate and mitigate risks involved in the industry. Also, the technological know-how that a manager brings plays a vital role in dealing with risks and opportunities.
Risks and Challenges of Renewables and How to Overcome Them –
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Below are risks and challenges that project managers help to mitigate in renewables projects:
- Schedule –
Renewable energy is characteristic of complex and new technology that is constantly evolving. Therefore, time is of the essence in these projects, and project managers need to ensure that the projects are delivered on time. Project managers estimate the schedule for a project while considering factors such as natural events or permission and licensing issues that cannot be anticipated. The project manager has to ensure that the project is on schedule, and this is made possible by formulating a project plan that breaks down the whole process into small increments with their objectives. Constantly updating the process while taking into account changing conditions will ensure the project is on schedule.
- Personnel –
The technical demands of renewable energy projects are huge, and thus it requires experienced and qualified human resources. This industry is fairly new, and a shortage of skilled talent poses a significant risk that might make it impossible to execute the project. Employing a project manager with a wealth of experience and having the necessary technological and planning skills is the first step for any project. The manager will choose the right skilled personnel such as engineers and manage them efficiently so that the project can be of quality. Skilled and qualified personnel will help minimize renewables issues, which minimizes cost and schedule risks.
- Nature –
Nature events cannot be foreseen, which might greatly interfere with the schedule of the project. Therefore, a skilled project manager must consider weather conditions and the natural environment in their project plan. For example, renewable energy depends on nature to produce energy such as sunlight and wind. Natural events such as harsh winter or hurricanes might stop the project for an unknown period, which might make the project costly and way far behind schedule. Since nature is a key concern, the project manager should take into account the force of nature. A good example is before erecting wind turbines; the project manager should ensure that the ground is stable and the wind speed is suitable for the wind turbines.
- Costs –
The initial capital costs required for renewable energy are costly, and they have a major impact on the project’s profitability. For example, the installation cost for solar energy on a large scale level is high, but the benefits will be worth it in the long run. Other renewables projects such as wind farms are often located in hard-to-reach places such as the sea, and they require massive infrastructure for installation. The project manager’s responsibility is to calculate and carefully control the costs to ensure that the project is completed within the allocated budget.
- Development and Quality –
For the success of a renewable energy project, planning before the project is crucial since the technology involved is usually complex and constantly evolving. In addition, renewable energy projects must meet specific quality specifications though it is difficult to measure the quality of a project. To test whether a project is up to standard certain quantitative standards must be met, which explains why project managers need to manage the project to meet the customer’s expectations.
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Final Thoughts –
The future of renewable energy is bright as its benefits are numerous, and they help deal with climate change which is a global issue. Furthermore, renewable energy overtook fossil fuels across Europe, and this is good news for the world to embrace renewables which are the future. However, the success of renewable energy projects depends on the project manager; hence, the project manager should be well skilled, certified, and experienced enough to manage these multi-million projects.
Author Bio: This article was written by Slaven Litera of Wizer Energy. Slaven has over a decade of experience working in project management for Renewable Energy Projects.
