Clean and renewable energy

A smooth sailing partnership!

Issue

Our client is a public company that produces, transmits and distributes electricity in what is commonly referred to as La Belle Province in Canada (as if EDF, RTE and Enedis were one and the same entity in France).

Its scope encompasses the construction of hydroelectric power stations, high-voltage lines and distribution to homes. It is one of the largest and most attractive employers in the country.

Stake

As the linchpin of major hydroelectric power plant projects for more than 75 years, our client must now face two major challenges: a growing portfolio of projects and the need to increase production to meet the challenges of decarbonisation of transport and industry, but also to meet growing demand, including beyond our borders (a link is planned to supply New York State).

To increase its production capacity, the company has launched a vast programme to renovate and improve its power plants and has called on a number of external resources to help it meet the challenges it faces.

Solution

The first contact with Orlade was in October 2021, for an initial benchmarking mission of good project management practices across various industries and countries.

Numerous interviews were conducted with internal teams to identify the issues, understand the challenges as well as the “pains” in project management. The objective was to find areas for improvement. These were then studied in relation to what had already been implemented by Orlade’s various clients in order to reveal the main principles behind the solutions. In each case, the “why” was sought.

At the end of this six-month phase, a roadmap for the deployment of best practices was developed, integrating the change management dimension to achieve performance.

Two pilot projects were designated (one in the field of production and one in the field of electricity transmission) in order to move, by the end of the year, to more operational support with a clear motto: show that the suggested solutions work!

Two consultants worked on the initial phase, and a third was brought in for the current stage.

Although it was rather atypical, as it was mainly theoretical, the first part of the work made it possible to establish a climate of trust by demonstrating the operational nature of the approach and the recommendations. The strength of the group also came into its own in this phase, as many consultants from both sides of the Atlantic actively contributed to the mapping.