Interview about the mission of the Project Planning Manager

The meeco Groups mission is to provide reliable renewable energy solutions all around the globe. The meeco Group has surrounded itself with an international team of high-skilled employees. Ms. Claudia Hamm has been working in the renewable energy sector, in wind and solar since 2002 and thus gained magnificent expe riences in this fast growing industry.

Ms. Hamm joined The meeco Group in 2011 as Head of the Project Pipeline Team. Since then, she has been supporting The meeco Group to accomplish its mission and to meet clients needs and expectations. She has brought an extensive experience in the field of project processing, technical planning, and project quality assurance into The meeco Group.

In a recently published interview with Claudia, it has been described how she manages to work and communicate within the international team of The meeco Group. She has explained her work, told about the challenges she may face when working on a project and to conclude, she shared some insights about her current work.

As the Project Planning Manager for The meeco Group, Claudia Hamm is in charge of sales support in terms of first evaluations of irradiatio n; yield reports, simulations of future projects and technical support.

"There are different stages in the planning of a project", explains Ms. Hamm. "First, I design the plants as per the needs and requirements of the clients. The next step is the conception of first simulation tests to ensure that setting up the project is feasible. Then, the designs are presented to the client and based on the design and the commercial offer; the deal is negotiated and concluded. Eventually I design the execution layouts for the construction and commissioning of the project."

Having been asked if it was difficult for her to get in touch with other employees of The meeco Group, as the company is spread all around the world Claudia answered, "When working in an international team, the most difficult part is communication. Fortunately, nowadays, The meec o Group team can rely on the different ways to communicate, particularly utilising the various options the internet provides. All the communication channels help us to stay in close contact with the whole team and they sometimes make it easier to solve issues such as misunderstandings due to intercultural differences by using a Skype call for example instead of a simple e-mail."

Within the framework of her position, Ms. Hamm is often in touch with the other members of The meeco Group team. When working on a specific project, she has to contact all involved colleagues depending on each project needs. She works closely with Mr. Thomas Beindorf, the Chief Technical Officer, who is the decision-maker and defines the priorities for each project. She also cooperates with Mr. Jose Moreno, the Consultant Engineer, who deals with electrical matters. The Technical and Operations Managers, Mr. Georg Kitoudis and Mr. Michael Georg, provide her with technical and local support whenever needed, and Ms. Victoria Lazaro, the Head of Procurement and Logistics, keeps her updated about procurement and logistics related matters and progress. Finally, she cooperates intensively with Mr. Eric Borremans, the Country Manager of meeco Service S.L. in Alicante, Spain, to receive updates and information on sales, e.g. offers to clients and their feedback on them.

Claudia may also face communication issues when working on the implementation of a project. The first barrier she and her team have to overcome is to receive all available data, getting familiar with local culture, local procedures and way of thinking of the country. The main critical points for the successful completion of each project are local support and the quality of the provided equipment. "We have managed to make ourselves familiar with markets worldwide thanks to our excellent local partners. With The meeco Group, we have built a professional and responsive team to address local needs and to attend to project-specific requirements as well."

When asked about the latest Project that Claudia and The meeco Group are currently working on Ms. Hamm summarises: "There are always worldwide projects on-going with The meeco Group." Indeed, she reveals that she was in charge of designing the final layouts for the on-going project in Zimbabwe that will result in the installation of an aggregate of 230MWp of PV parks over the next five years.

About The meeco Group: The meeco Group was consolidated in 2000 and oriented its main focus towards the energy sector. With world headquarters located in Zug, Switzerland, the group currently has over 50 employees working across 4 continents. Thanks to a structured but flexible approach based on its core competencies, meeco has delivered over 320 MW of clean, renewable energy solutions across four continents. The meeco Group accomplishes its mission by providing project developers, investors, governments, and private businesses with the services necessary for timely financing, installation, and operation of clean energy assets.