The Green Power Mini-MBA

Our Premium 5-day Business School for Renewable Energy: Technology, Markets, Commercialisation, Planning, Finance, Strategy

13—17 February 2012, London, United Kingdom

Introduction | Enquiry | Registration | Download Brochure

Key Course Learning

The varied science and technology behind renewable energy and how this dictates the commercial boundaries on its potential, cost structure and market positioning
Market impacts, opportunities and challenges for Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Biomass and Ocean energy
The business of renewable energy, including: cash flow planning, business case factors and sensitivities; risk evaluation and financing; political and regulatory impacts
Internal/external and micro/macro-economic factors in increasing renewables within the energy mix
Renewable energy strategies at different levels: firms, countries and regions
BUSINESS PLANNING EXERCISE: putting it all into practice

Training Level and Delivery

Led by Green Power’s in-house Training Director and supplemented by carefully selected, expert guest speakers, the course is delivered through a mix of presentation, discussion, multimedia, illustrative calculation and business planning group work. The course runs in a friendly, informal manner, encouraging discussions and questions to ensure that participants get the most out of their time.

We assume no prior expertise on the topics covered during the course, which seeks to provide clarity to what is a complex and interconnected series of scientific and economic influences. All we ask is that you bring an inquiring mind, a willingness to actively participate, and an openness to share your own ideas and expertise with others!

Audience

You should expect to meet business people and senior managers from a wide range of interested parties and sectors, for example listed below:

Power Generators, Utilities & Fuel Producers
Project Developers, Transmission/Distribution Suppliers and Technology Vendors
Investment Banks, VCs and Insurance Companies
Policymakers, Analysts and Consultants

In addition to ample opportunities for interaction throughout the training week, a networking dinner is included within the course fee.

The week at-a-glance

DAY 1 Markets	DAY 2 Solutions	DAY 3 Influences	DAY 4 Finances	DAY 5 Strategies
Renewable Energy Resources and Potential	Thermal Power Generation: Biomass, Geothermal & Solar CSP	Grid Integration & Energy Storage	Renewable Project Planning & Financing	Business Planning Group Work
Power & Energy Market Context	Direct Power Generation: Solar PV, Wind & Ocean	Carbon Markets, Trading and Pricing	Financing Structures, Cashflow & Investment Returns	Business Planning Presentations & Results
Policies and Regulations: drivers & influences	Renewable Fuels: Liquid, Gas & Solid	Disruptive market shifts and future “game-changers”	Financial Models & Business Case Analysis; Scenario Planning & Strategy	Closing Discussions, Business Plan Evaluations & Conclusions
Introduction to Business Planning Exercise	Routes to 100% Renewables?	Business Planning Group Work	Business Planning Group Work
		Networking Dinner

The Business Planning Exercise:

This is an information-packed week, with a wide variety of topics and issues introduced to attendees. Lively discussions will trigger a variety of views and highlight different approaches to different markets. Our view is that this is a good thing; that the competitive context of renewable energy is complex and open to such debate.

The best way to utilise this mass of knowledge and bring disparate topics together is to apply them - which is where our business planning exercise comes in.

Specifically designed for this course and unique to Green Power Academy, the exercise runs throughout the week and allows attendees to work in small teams, writing a business plan and strategy to incorporate renewable sources within a competitive, realistic energy market simulation. Bringing a laptop to the course is essential, in order that attendees can utilise data, spread-sheets and other tools that allow them to devise, model and finance their business plans; and present these plans in competition with other teams within the group.

About your trainers

Dr John Massey is Green Power Academy’s Training Director and lead Renewable Energy Trainer. He is Course Director for our Green Power Mini-MBA. Combining a strong academic science background with almost twenty years commercial experience of industry research, analysis and training across a variety of "new technology" industries (including conventional and renewable energy), Dr Massey is expert in demystifying new technologies, presenting their commercial and business context and describing the economic and financial context of the markets in which they operate. He delivers training globally, to senior executives from a range of organisations from project development to finance and has also developed educational material for both live and distance learning courses. He holds a 1st Class Honours degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, a PhD in Earth Sciences and a Diploma in Economics, Innovation and Sustainability.

Christian Erich Grütte is Senior Advisor Renewable Energies at Leonardo Venablers and brings over 10 years’ experience in the renewable energy sector. He advises leading corporate and financial investors, project developers and manufacturers on business development and investment strategies internationally, assessing the potential and bankability of renewable energy deals and leading negotiations between stakeholders of the projects. A small selection of the specific skills that Christian will bring to our MiniMBA students include: the identification of investment drivers & inhibitors; risk assessment of technologies and policies; deal assessment & valuation; negotiations between developers, lenders and EPCs and presentation to investment committees. He holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technical University of Berlin, where he also served as a Lecturer at the chair of Investment and Financing.

Mike Bess has been active on setting frameworks for the Kyoto flexible mechanisms since 1997. He was a co-founder of the UK’s ETG and 4 years on the ECCP’s CDM/JI and ETS Task Forces (2001 to 2004). He has worked, and is working, with the UNFCCC Secretariat and the CDM Executive Board on early-day design of methodologies to presenting to DNA Forum in Africa on streamlining baselines, developing standardised baselines for small and very small CDM projects. Mike is a Board Member of the CMIA and, as head of Camco’s Policy and Strategy Unit, has worked on CDM qualification in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

+ Exclusive Guest Expertise:

As a subsidiary of the Green Power Conferences group, Green Power Academy has unique knowledge of and access to a wide range of experts from across and beyond the renewables industries. By leveraging this, we are able to ensure that your week’s training will include contributions from specialists and practitioners on a number of the key topics covered.

For details and announcements of the other trainers and speakers you will meet during the week, please check back regularly at www.greenpoweracademy.com/minimba or call us on +44 (0)20 7099 0600.

The Week in More Detail

DAY 1

Renewable Energy Resources and Potential

Quantifying energy availabilities
The differing characteristics of renewable energies and how they contribute to an “energy mix”
Understanding natural limits (and opportunities)
Issues of scale and land-use
Can we become 100% renewable?

Power & Energy Market Context

“Power” vs. “energy”: why the distinction is important and why and when both measures matter
How power prices are determined and why they vary
Issues in integrating renewables into power grids
Off vs. On-grid renewable markets

Policies and Regulations: drivers & influences

Feed-in-tariffs, production certificates, tax incentives and other policy tools
Their rationale, evolution, economic effects and market impact
Policy trends and predictions
The debate over energy subsidies and their cost to customers

Introduction to the Business Planning Exercise

Describing the goal and the tasks to get there
Presenting data sources, information and tools

DAY 2

Thermal Power Generation:

Biomass, Geothermal & Solar CSP

Biomass feedstocks and conversion pathways for power
Geothermal resource exploration, heat extraction and power conversion plants
Concentrating solar power: trough, tower, dish and Fresnel plants
Hybrid fossil/renewable power generation
Thermal power and water usage

Direct Power Generation:

Solar PV, Wind & Ocean

Solar photovoltaics: silicon, thin-film and emerging materials; tracking, efficiencies and balance of system components
Wind power on and off-shore, including turbine characteristics, power curves and installations
Solar and wind grid integration, intermittency and power quality challenges
Technology solutions – existing and emerging – to generate power from tidal ranges, tidal streams and waves

Renewable Fuels:

Liquid, Gas & Solid

Biomass feedstocks and conversion pathways for fuels
1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd generation biofuels and questions of sustainability and environmental impact
Derivation and applications of biogas, biomethane and other biomass-derived gaseous fuels
Biomass pre-treatment technologies
Emerging solutions such as wind/solar-to-fuel, hydrogen etc.

Routes to 100% Renewables?

Considering the wide range of energy sources covered during the day, attendees discuss the idea of creating a 100% renewables market
To support the discussion, the conclusions of various such studies are presented and compared

DAY 3

Grid Integration & Energy Storage

The challenges of variability and grid planning
Why renewable energy integration could benefit from energy storage
Understanding how pumped storage, compressed air, batteries, flywheels and other technologies solve different problems
The economics of energy storage and the challenges in expanding its use

Carbon Markets, Trading and Pricing

Understanding the fundamentals of carbon markets, including mechanisms such as CDM and REDD
Current carbon markets (including ETS), their workings, impacts and criticisms
Carbon prices and carbon taxes, and their impact on the business of renewable energy
Carbon finance strategies in practice

Disruptive market shifts and future “game-changers”

Discussing market trends and external influences which impact the business of renewables, including:
Fossil fuel developments: shale gas, deep water oil and other sources
Electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles
Smart grids, regional grids and demand management
Carbon capture and storage
Emerging renewable power solutions

Business Planning Group Work

Time available for work in teams
First steps in developing your renewable energy business case for our market simulation.

DAY 4

Renewable Project Planning & Financing

Timing the key phases in developing renewable energy projects
Developing projects under various bankability and investors criteria
Technology specific issues to address during project development
Permitting, off-taker/purchaser contracts, grid interconnect and other key negotiations
Regulatory, production, technology, financing and other risk factors
Building your business case and information memorandum

Financing Structures, Cashflow & Investment Returns

Typical financing structures in renewable energy projects
Different types of debt and equity financing, the fund raising process
Basic cash-flow planning for renewable energy projects
Technology specific Income, CAPEX and OPEX variables
Relating cash flows, LCOE, IRR, NPV and other typically-quoted quantities

Financial Models & Business Case Analysis; Scenario Planning & Strategy

Analyzing different information memorandums and business cases of various renewable energy projects
Analyzing different financial models and variables of wind, solar and biomass projects
Understanding the value of a project to stakeholders
Iterative modeling, fund raising and project development steps till financial close

Business Planning Group Work

Time available for work in teams
Further developing and quantifying your renewable energy business case for our market simulation.

DAY 5

Business Planning Group Work

Time available for work in small teams
The final steps in creating your renewable energy business case for our market simulation

Business Planning Presentations & Results

Teams present their business cases to the group, including time for questions

Closing Discussions, Business Plan Evaluations & Conclusions

Discussion and evaluation of business case presentations
Closing discussions and conclusions from the course