Dates: 17th, 24th, 31st October; and 7th, 14th, 21st November 2023 
Time: 14:00 - 17:00 
Venue: Online (via Zoom) 

Course Overview 

Upon completion, participants will:

• Be armed with a survival kit of skills, checklists and templates used by leading organisations worldwide to lead and run projects within the wind energy sector;
• Be comfortable leading and presenting to wind energy clients, stakeholders and management teams, identifying and mitigating risk, preparing the perfect project plan appropriate to their wind energy project, managing and leading cross functional teams with confidence; 
• Have access to expert consultants and advice on project and team management challenges;
• Be confident in leading and delivering projects within the wind energy sector.

Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes 

Module 1: Project Approach & Methodologies
That the participants will feel confident in understanding the different stages of wind energy projects and gain an understanding of the different Project management methodologies in the market and how to apply the fundamental rules of engagement to delivering successful wind energy projects.

Module 2: The role of the Project Manager (PM)
That the participants will know exactly what the actual role and behaviour of a Wind Energy Project Manager is and how to motivate their vast cross functional teams and stakeholders to deliver to specific targets and goals from the feasibility, planning & permitting, pre-construction, construction, testing phase through to the operations and maintenance phase and ultimately de-commissioning.

Module 3: Project Scoping, Change Management & Risk
That the participants will feel confident in how to capture crystal clear wind energy project requirements, resources, timelines etc. how to assess risk, track and monitor risk and implement a strategic highly successful risk management plan.

Module 4: Planning, Estimations & Project Wrap up
That the participants will know exactly the fundamental requirements to deliver, track and maintain an excellent project plan and detailed costs to move the project to close down and benefit assessment.

Module 5: Leading with Impact
Strong leadership is crucial to successfully align diverse roles and deliver complex projects, on time and to budget. Engaging the appropriate tactics at the relevant time for consensus and progress is critical. This module will add essential leadership tools to participant toolkits, with insights on how to influence others without authority, navigate challenging conversations with confidence, and ensure clear communication to enable trust and collaboration. Facilitated by Ann Greene of SupportCoach, a People & Change consultancy. 

Module 6: Industry expert presentations
Presented by industry experts working in the field.

Course Content

Module 1:

• Project environments; 
• Project methodologies and lifecycles; 
• What makes a good or a bad project;
• Key fundamentals for project success;
• Understand and communicate the difference in the project methodologies that are most popular on the market;
• Understand how to assess what approach best suits the project they are about to embark on;
• Understand the critical success factors of a very good project and how to ensure they are applied to any project they run;
• Understand and experience the basic fundamentals of successful projects. 

Module 2: 

• The Project Manager role, Programme Manager, PMO; 
• Team Management; 
• Project checkpoints, Meetings, Status Reporting & Executive Presentations; 
• Engaging with your clients, steering committees, stakeholders and issue resolution; 
• Stakeholders & Communication Planning; 
• Understand the role of the PM and the responsibilities that go with the title; 
• Understand how to identify your team, get your team performing effectively and how to kick-off your project; 
• Understand how to run great meetings, present to clients/boards/steering committees; 
• Understand project management versus programme management and project governance structures. 

Module 3: 

• Project justification & initiation; 
• Defining Crystal Clear Requirements; 
• Running Workshops – onsite/virtually;
• Risk Assessment & Risk Management (around the areas of environment, market, organisation, customer, technology, personnel, materials and resources); 
• Working with external experts; 
• Understand how to capture, prioritise and present crystal clear project requirements;
• Assess project risk and implement a plan to mange it throughout the entire project lifecycle; 
• Understand the best approach to getting external experts fully onboarded to the project and the methodology being applied to ensure they deliver. 

Module 4: 

• Building the perfect project plan; 
• Estimation techniques and contingency planning;
• Building your costs;
• Monitoring and controlling the plan, the costs, change control techniques;
• Project closure and wrap up;
• Learn key project planning terms;
• Understand how to build a detailed project plan;
• Understand how to estimate accurately;
• Create detailed project costs for monitoring during the project;
• Understand how to wrap up your project when the project has been delivered.

Module 5:

• Understand the differences between management and leadership skills, using the principles of emotional intelligence (EQ);
• Recognise the impacts of different personality styles, and learn strategies to connect with each style;
• Evaluate the necessary skills to navigate challenging conversations, regulate emotions, and enable an environment of trust for purposeful progression in the workplace;
• Identify strategies that will motivate and influence others, laterally and vertically, with or without authority.

Module 6: 

• This will be presented by wind energy industry experts;
• Post programme actions and follow up planning.

Who Should Attend 

This programme is suitable for anyone involved in leading, delivering or participating on any aspect of wind energy projects. 

Certification 

WEI - 18 hours (3 hours weekly for 6 weeks with Greentech Skillnet certificate of completion awarded when participant attends all 6 sessions). 

About the Trainer 

Blue Sky Training– Project Management Experts: Deirdre Fox and Máire Kearns have worked in strategic business consulting and project implementation since 1990, see www.blueskytraining.ie, supporting multi-national public and private sector clients with projects and their implementation. They both have considerable global experience in business consulting and in particular we have extensive experience in implementing projects on a fixed time fixed price basis, which ensures that we always meet our target deadlines.

We have worked on projects for all the major utility companies in Ireland. Having delivered Project Management courses previously for Green Tech Skillnet, Eirgrid, SSE and Gaelectric we understand the training needs of members of the Green Tech Skillnet and can continue to deliver very successful programmes for members.

Over the years, we have harvested knowledge from hundreds of projects and developed significant training, mentorship and consulting programmes, training clients and their employees in project management and setting up correct project processes and procedures to ensure successful delivery. We lecture at UCD Professional Academy, Public Affairs Ireland and TU Dublin.

Our experience enables us to provide very specialised leading edge consulting and training services for clients and partners. Our ‘Can do’ approach is practical and relevant to real world wind energy projects, interactive and dynamic and exceptionally comprehensive. 

Ann Greene is a facilitator, change consultant, and executive coach who has held leadership roles with accountability for peak-performing teamwork in multinational and SME organizations. Her career has been focused on strategic change, career transformation, developing leadership capacity, and organizational effectiveness.

Ann has extensive experience of professional development and coaches executives to confidently define and implement sustainable change. She holds an executive MBS in Leadership and Strategic Organizational Change, and professional practitioner’s certification in training needs analysis, design and delivery. Her purpose is to enable a culture of trust.

Brendan Heneghan, Operations Manager at AFRY Renewables Ireland and UK, is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and has worked exclusively in renewable energy since 2003 when he joined the wind energy section of ESBI, having previously worked for CRH across various group companies and countries. Brendan joined Ionic Consulting (formerly Wind Prospect Ireland) in 2006 and has held a number of project management, technical, and managerial roles and is currently Operations Director. Ionic Consulting have been the leading provider of renewable energy project management and technical consultancy services in Ireland for more than a decade. Ionic has successfully project managed the pre-construction and construction stage delivery of more than 30% of all renewable electricity projects across the island of Ireland, in excess of 2,000 MW to date, and are also constructing a number of projects in Great Britain currently. Ionic are delivering wind, solar PV and battery storage projects on behalf of Clients in addition to civil and electrical design, and technical due diligence for renewable energy projects.

Brendan was the interim CEO of the Irish wind Energy Association (IWEA) in 2016 and has also served as a Director of IWEA from 2017 to 2020. He was lead author of IWEA’s ‘Lifecycle of an Onshore Wind Farm’ report in 2019 and has delivered a number of training modules on this subject to job seekers and trainee wind turbine technicians via Greentech Skillnet since 2008.

James O’Hara is a Project Manager for the Dogger Bank C project with the FTSE-listed SSE plc. He has worked with SSE for 17 years and has worked as Project Manager on offshore projects for over 4 years. James was previously Project Manager for the Arklow Bank Wind Park Phase 2 offshore project and the Galway Wind Park project, now Ireland’s largest onshore wind farm, taking the project from the development phase, through construction and into full operation.

Summary Feedback from our most recent course delivered for the GreenTech Skillnet: 

I found the detail and the breadth of the scope the most valuable point. Think in the minutiae - It is very thorough and provides a very good basic understanding of what is required. Participant from the ESB.

The reason I would recommend this training is because it brought theory to life, the skills and content covered within the programme are directly relatable to a real-world project management setting. The course content was both relevant and engaging for individuals currently involved in the renewables space. Participant from Highfield Energy.

The amount of details and energy on the course is massive and I appreciate every bit of it. Thanks to Máire and Deidre, both of Blue Project Management. I am your fan ladies. You will always see the real work that goes into real project and not the fluffy parts taught in schools. Independent Renewable Contractor.

I would recommend this training to anyone who is beginning their career in project management. It gave a great insight into project management and what is expected of a project manager. A Participant from Bord Na Mona.

I'd recommend this training for those new to the wind industry and to Project Management. It provides a good overview of the techniques and practical application of them. A participant from Simply Blue Group.

The course is excellent. The content is really well structured and well delivered. A participant from Irish Rail.

Anyone who is leading projects should take this course. This training has given me a depth of knowledge and confidence to lead projects in the future. A participant from Rengen Power.

This course is presented by really knowledgeable presenters in an engaging manner. A participant making a career change into the wind energy sector.