Nathan Rhodes

The renewable energy sector is rapidly evolving, playing a pivotal role in driving the global transition to sustainable energy. However, large-scale renewable energy projects come with significant challenges, from embracing innovation, managing costs and timelines, navigating regulatory frameworks to securing key resources and long lead equipment.  

At Intium, we are keen to openly shed light on these complexities, highlighting strategies to enhance project efficiency, address pitfalls, and pave the way for success in this dynamic industry. Sharing insights that can benefit the industry at large, demonstrates our commitment to working collaboratively with others that are united in the goal of supporting Australia’s transition to a clean energy future.

Avoid the common industry pitfalls 

Despite the progress being made, the industry faces significant pitfalls. Starting projects without clearly defined goals continues to be a common issue, often leading to cost overruns and lengthy delays.  

Siloed processes, where key teams are excluded from early-stage discussions, contribute to inefficiencies and project rework. Regulatory challenges, including lengthy approval processes and misalignment with policy objectives, also create hurdles that disrupt timelines and reduce confidence on realising project benefits. 

To address these issues, there is a need in the industry for a holistic approach to project management from beginning to end. Defining project goals and potential constraints from the outset and aligning all stakeholders toward a shared vision is crucial to success. All too often, project teams and stakeholders do not have an agreed understanding of the key drivers for projects, or the criteria for decision making, or a common understanding of how potential for trade-offs are addressed. Engaging impacted communities, industry, regulators, DNSPs and TNSPs and others, early in the process, can help streamline approvals and align requirements.

Getting the right people around the table upfront 

The importance of strategic delivery engagement with experienced parties at the beginning of a project’s lifecycle is often underestimated and not adequately funded. Bringing commissioning, operations, and construction teams into the project’s conceptual and planning stages is a critical step in preventing design flaws, minimising waste in the program to drive speed to market and ensuring execution readiness. This collaborative approach not only streamlines workflows but also helps address potential issues before they escalate, saving time and resources. 

The key is to break down the silos and foster a truly collaborative environment from the start. This early involvement of the project delivery and operations team can significantly improve design, quality and project outcomes. Too often, projects are re-worked during the procurement phase where the cost of change is high, introducing complexity and materially increasing the likelihood of project delays and stakeholder dissatisfaction.

Technology, repeatability & Innovation drives improvement  

In the realm of major energy infrastructure projects, adopting a standardised and repeatable approach to engineering design, procurement and delivery is crucial. Learnings from other sectors are available to the energy infrastructure industry in Australia with the potential for significant benefits.  

Unlike bespoke methods, which often lead to increased costs and heightened risks, a standardised approach ensures consistency, efficiency, and reliability. By leveraging proven methodologies and best practices, we can streamline processes, reduce uncertainties, and enhance project outcomes. This approach not only minimises the potential for errors and delays but also fosters collaboration and innovation across teams. Ultimately, standardisation paves the way for more sustainable and scalable energy solutions, driving progress and ensuring the successful completion of projects within budget and on time. 

Modular construction techniques and standardisation have the ability to be real game changers, offering opportunities to reduce on-site complexity and improve scalability across multiple projects. Creating standardised templates, processes, and specifications streamlines project delivery across multiple initiatives. There is a propensity in the Australian market for all projects to be developed from first principles every single time and this is proving costly and introducing increased risk to delivering the energy transition.

Resilient Teams create competitive advantage

A culture of adaptability, underpinned by clear communication and decisive leadership, is essential for navigating the inevitable challenges of large-scale projects. Teams that are empowered to make informed decisions and maintain momentum, even in the face of setbacks, are better positioned for success. 

Establishing a culture of adaptability, clear decision-making, accountability and continuous learning is crucial for navigating challenges in this dynamic industry. Leadership will play a critical role in supporting diverse teams tasked with solving new and complex problems at high speed. A realisation that we have new problems to solve, that we need the right people around table to create solutions, and that approaches and mindsets adopted over 20 years ago (when large electrical infrastructure was last built) may not be applicable anymore, will support better outcomes.

Adopting best-practices drives success

Ultimately, the renewable energy sector’s success hinges on its ability to innovate, collaborate, and remain resilient. By adopting best practices in project management and addressing common pitfalls, the industry can accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future. As the energy landscape continues to evolve, the lessons learned from these discussions will play a vital role in shaping its trajectory.