The formation and management of costs during the developmental phase of a wind farm project

Abstract

The thesis examined the costs of the project development phase of a wind power project, how the costs are distributed over the different phases of project development and how they can be managed. The work was carried out by researching the theoretical background of the topic, interviewing two professionals in the field, and creating a project cost report for the commissioning company. The topic was limited to an onshore wind project and the development phase of a project. The commissioner of the thesis is VSB Uusiutuva Energia Suomi Oy.

The aim of the thesis was to gain a greater understanding of cost management, how costs are distributed over the different stages of project development and what is a practical tool for cost reporting. As a development task, a project cost report was created with the aim of simplifying cost monitoring and forecasting. The project cost report was created for the project development team and the finance team of the commissioning company.

The theoretical base consists of literature on project management, texts published by an association in the field and interviews with two professionals in the field. The theoretical base covers project development cost categories, cost breakdown by phases and milestones, cost forecasting and changes, cash flow forecasting and cost reporting.

The research methods used for the development assignment were internal workshops with the project development team and participatory observation. The needs and different stages of development of the project cost report are assessed together with the relevant parties to ensure that it met their needs. The work utilized the previous experience of the author and other personnel with reporting and assessed the features and shortcomings of the existing reporting.

A further development task for the project cost report is to create a written guideline for the use of the report, which will ensure consistent use and continuity of operations. In the future, the report will include the number of internal work hours of the personnel. The data will be used to monitor how many work hours different tasks and project phases require.