Over the past five years, green energy has made great strides in the Middle East, serving as a key element in most of the region's national strategies. The relevance of ensuring the successful implementation of such projects is increasing due to the fact that more and more renewable energy initiatives are being launched in the Middle East, and because such projects can pose serious challenges to stakeholders, since most alternative energy projects are the first of their kind.

FTI Consulting experts Connor Carran and David Murphy shared with Consultancy.org the key factors for the success of such projects. Let's take a look at what the experts suggest for success.

As noted by experts, the basis for effective contract management in the field of green energy, is the pre-contract stage, which covers the solution of the following issues (www.consultancy.org):

  • in order to achieve greater certainty in terms of pricing and project schedules, a clear contract should be drawn up and ambiguities and repetitions avoided;
  • clearly defined project goals, key performance indicators, and milestones are key success factors;
  • the procurement methodology must be correctly defined, with the management of upfront costs and long-term positions coming to the forefront;
  • in order to prevent various misunderstandings, it is necessary to analyze and distribute risks, as well as to identify the party controlling the risks.

Regarding the stage of project implementation, experts pay attention to many aspects, the key ones being the following (www.consultancy.org):

  • control of the project in terms of budgeting, implementation schedules, procurement and risks;
  • the experts call for the best software to keep the necessary project records, store them, and compare project documents when necessary;
  • it is necessary to ensure proper administration and management of contracts, including the daily protection of parties' interests and a properly drafted correspondence;
  • to reduce the risk of disputes between the parties, it is necessary to ensure an effective change management, because in such projects, the changes are unrecoverable, which can lead to additional financial costs and time;
  • in addition, in order to prevent and quickly resolve any disputes between the parties, experts recommend holding regular meetings and strives to close issues as early as possible.

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In addition to the recommendations presented above, experts attach great importance to the issues of constant team collaboration, efficient approaches to project management and paying particular attention to the strength of leadership.