Powering project development success for the small but mighty.

6 internal pitfalls to avoid when leading small renewable energy teams.

Feb 19, 2025

The renewable energy sector in Nigeria holds immense potential, with growing demand, large-scale catalytic grant programs, and an increasing number of innovative companies stepping up to provide solutions.

However, despite incentives that remove financial risks, many developers still struggle to convert pipelines into reality or fail to do so consistently.

Over the past 18 months, I have been deeply involved in renewable energy projects, focused on root cause analysis—examining financial and non-financial reasons - why renewable energy project pipelines in Nigeria are not progressing as quickly as they should. I have worked closely with project teams, and engaged with companies and stakeholders in the sector, trying to uncover challenges and design suitable solutions.

What has become apparent is that the obstacles are multi-faceted, and issues and solutions lie within

The market,

The investors,

The corporate setup,

The projects themselves.

One major trend is about 80% of renewable energy companies in Nigeria operate with small teams—typically fewer than 30 employees—and have little or no executive board oversight.

With a small team, the daily workload can be overwhelming.

You are simultaneously running business operations, prospecting for new opportunities, managing outsourced contractors, balancing evolving regulations, and responding to investor requirements—all while ensuring there is enough revenue to sustain the company.

The absence of a board that provides strategic direction, strengthens internal controls, and leverages a wider network of stakeholders for your benefit makes things even more challenging. Boards are expensive to pay, so you cannot afford them quite yet.

So, how do you, as a leader of a renewable energy company, navigate these challenges without burning out your team? How can you better position your company for success and convert your pipelines more effectively?

Some of the solutions are simpler than you think.
Some may be so obvious you may have overlooked them.
Some are in your hands and may need more discipline and focus than financial acumen to resolve.

This edition of Notes on Project Development speaks to how you are organized and what is within internal control.

Some of the solutions to improving your execution success lie in avoiding these six common yet often overlooked internal pitfalls that companies typically fall into.

1. Avoid misalignment between projects and company vision

Sometimes, a project looks great on paper but doesn’t truly fit your company’s expertise or long-term vision. The opportunity may seem lucrative and even come with upfront cash, but getting sidetracked by projects outside your core focus may stretch your team beyond capacity without delivering long-term benefits.

How to Fix It:

Clearly define your company’s vision and strategic priorities for the next five years.
Communicate this vision regularly with your team to ensure alignment.
Before committing resources, evaluate whether the project fits your company’s core expertise and long-term goals.
Assess if the benefits of taking a detour to do projects that do not have a strategic fit will not lead to longer-term costs that erode its short-term benefits.

2. Avoid poor strategic prioritization—you can’t do everything at once.

Many small teams take on too many projects at once, spreading resources too thin. This often leads to delays, inefficiencies, and half-finished projects that never reach their full potential.

How to Fix It:

Establish clear prioritization criteria—define what makes a project worth pursuing and why it is urgent to execute on, based on alignment with company goals, market potential, and resource availability.
Be realistic about capacity—can your team truly handle multiple projects at once? If not, scale back.
Implement a phased approach—focus on a few high-impact projects, complete them, and then move on to the next phase.
Regularly review and adjust priorities based on changing market conditions.

3. Avoid rushing project screening and preliminary assessments.

Even when a seemingly right strategic opportunity arises, resist the urge to jump in too quickly. Failing to conduct some preliminary assessments can lead to wasted time and resources on projects that aren’t viable.

How to Fix It:

Define clear project screening criteria and train select team members to handle the initial assessment process.
Keep meticulous records of screened sites, building a database for comparative analysis.
Learn from past experiences—identify patterns in successful and unsuccessful projects to improve decision-making.

4. Avoid ineffective and undocumented processes.

Many small teams develop processes out of necessity rather than best practices. While this may work short-term, it can result in:
🔴 Loss of institutional knowledge—if key employees leave, critical process knowledge leaves with them if they are undocumented.
🔴 Inconsistencies and inefficiencies—without standard operating procedures (SOPs), execution varies, causing errors.
🔴 Onboarding challenges—new employees struggle to learn without structured documentation.

How to Fix It:

Map out core business processes—document everything related to project development, design, construction, operation, and maintenance.
Create SOPs—write detailed process flows, responsibilities, and authorizations for each stage. During the creation of SOPs, review industry best practices, and regulatory requirements and embed as required.
Update SOPs periodically—assign and mandate team members to review and revise SOPs at least once a year, to ensure processes reflect more current realities and learning. Embed version control practices, so that users know which version is the most recent.
Standardize non-core processes—document key non-core processes for staffing, procurement, financial controls, etc.

5. Avoid under-resourcing internal project management & business analysis

Small teams often outsource execution but fail to retain in-house capacity to oversee projects effectively. While outsourcing is necessary, your company must still retain oversight and ensure quality assurance.

Another critical gap is business analysis. Many companies focus on technical expertise but overlook the importance of analyzing operational data, and strategic forecasting to support business decision-making and prepare inputs to financial models necessary to attract financing.

How to Fix It:

Recognize the need for project management and business analysis as capabilities critical to business success.
Train and designate team members or hire dedicated project managers and business analysts.
Rotate project managers across contractor supervision to ensure objectivity.
Supplement expertise with external advisors when necessary but make sure there are qualified internal team members to take ownership.
Use simple tracking tools—start with spreadsheets before upgrading to more sophisticated project management and analysis software.

6. Avoid becoming the bottleneck—delegate decision-making

Are you the sole decision-maker in your company? Are you the sun around which all the planets must revolve? If every issue is escalated to you, you are a bottleneck that slows down execution and limits growth.

How to Fix It:

Define then implement a clear authorization matrix—if you are still involved in up to 50% of decisions, you need to delegate more.
Deputize strong and capable team members to take ownership of specific areas.
Determine what you must be consulted on, delegate authority on the rest.
Improve internal communication—weekly check-ins can keep teams aligned.
Form cross-functional project teams to reduce siloed information and improve collaboration.

Bringing It All Together

The renewable energy sector in Nigeria presents significant opportunities, it also comes with significant challenges. Small teams must be strategic and efficient to navigate these challenges. Success in renewable energy isn’t just about financial acumen or technical expertise—it’s about strategic execution. Structure your team, optimize your processes, and build necessary non- technical capabilities, to be better positioned for long-term growth and impact.

By avoiding the six pitfalls above you can:
✔ Improve project alignment and prioritization.

✔ Execute your project development more efficiently and effectively.

✔ Strengthen internal processes and documentation.

✔ Develop in-house project management and business analysis capacity.

✔ Avoid bottlenecks and decision-making slowdowns.

Would love to hear from you—what challenges have you faced in scaling your renewable energy projects?

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