Developing organisational design for a transition to an Independent Power Provider

Elgin is an experienced international developer exclusively focused on utility-scale solar and energy storage assets. They sought an investment partner to support its growth plans to become an integrated asset-backed energy trading and asset optimisation platform delivering long-term higher risk adjusted returns.

People capacity has been identified as a critical risk to achieving Elgin’s strategic goals and investment in organisational design is recognised as key to mitigating that risk.

Project One has laid foundational work in leadership alignment, succession planning, and robust governance (a prior engagement carried out in late ’23, early ’24) and this next phase has Project One supporting Elgin in the design and of a revised organisational design (OD) to support the business across its next phase of growth.

Elgin is at a pivotal stage in its growth journey. As it transitions toward becoming an Independent Power Provider (IPP), Elgin’s leadership recognises that its current organisational structure is not fully equipped to support the scaling and complexity of its operations. The company’s expansion into multiple international markets, ambitious target to deliver over 1GW+ of assets per year, and integrated value chain approach – from origination to asset optimisation – demand a refreshed organisational design to provide structure and support to a significantly changes and increased workforce. A key challenge is ensuring the business has the right leadership capacity, capability, and structure to enable clear accountability, streamlined decision-making, and operational effectiveness across all functions.

If not addressed, Elgin faces several critical risks. Firstly, without a clear organisational design, accountability gaps may emerge, leading to operational inefficiencies, duplicated efforts, and missed opportunities. The absence of defined roles and responsibilities may cause decision-making bottlenecks, hampering the delivery of projects at the scale and pace required. There is also a risk of overloading existing teams, leading to burnout, staff turnover, and the loss of critical expertise. Furthermore, misaligned structures may undermine Elgin’s ability to attract and integrate new talent, further exacerbating capacity constraints. Finally, a lack of organisational clarity could weaken Elgin’s ability to execute its strategy effectively, resulting in slower market entry, reduced competitiveness in auctions and tenders, and potentially, a failure to achieve its vision of becoming a successful IPP. Addressing this challenge is therefore critical for sustaining growth, ensuring operational excellence, and securing investor and stakeholder confidence.

Project One proposed a hands-on approach to support Elgin in restructuring the organisational design. We provided a consultant with expertise in project management, organisational design, change management, and governance to lead the work. The approach focused on the development of a clear and accountable organisational design blueprint that aligned with Elgin’s strategic objectives and evolving business model as an Independent Power Provider. The blueprint provided an optimised accountability model, set out clear executive and management level responsibilities, and provided a simplified organisation structure across all business functions and function teams.

The blueprint defines leadership structures, with clear spans of control across teams; it identifies key capabilities and interfaces, characterising interactions with other functions through key inputs and outputs.

The approach identified operational gaps and bottlenecks, and a series of recommendations were formulated and put forward to the executive to consider taking forward for implementation.

Elgin was still in the process of finalising its working relation with the incoming investment partner. These new ways of working meant changes to the governance model, a notable change in the strategic growth agenda, and changes to the executive team. These changes necessitated a revision to the approach – refining the strategic alignment, and in revising the emerging organisational model. The pace of work was such that time with key was limited and the work had to be managed to challenging timescales with some restrictions on access to key staff.

A unique aspect of the work was the need to devise an organisation model that would support the notable change to Elgin’s business model. The business had focused on its first 12 years on the development of a ‘paper based’ product to be sold on to 3^rd party developers. The revised model saw Elgin extend its model to cover the full project life cycle. This presented Elgin with challenges across staff, capability, pipeline, and ways of working, with all being subject to transformational change.

The Organisation Design Blueprint proposes a transformation of Elgin’s organisational structure to enhance efficiency, decision-making, and collaboration. The primary driver for this change is the need to address deeply siloed ways of working that currently impede progress across the full project life cycle. The proposed structure simplifies operations by combining like capabilities, introduces end-to-end project accountability, and supports all project life cycle phases with a shared services model.

Leadership and Governance

The structure is based on a simplified C-level framework (CEO, CDO, COO, CCO, and CLO) and four Directors (Commercial, Portfolio, Finance, and People & Culture). This leadership model ensures strategic alignment across key business functions, minimises overlap, enhances accountability, and focuses on clearly defined responsibilities.

Project-Centric Approach: The new model promotes consistent project accountability and ensures that incomplete or underdeveloped work no longer hampers delivery. A project lead (Lead Development Manager/Project Owner) will be accountable for end-to-end delivery, requiring training across the life cycle.

Shared Services Model: The adoption of a shared services model spans the full life cycle, integrating like capabilities (such as unified engineering functions) and providing a foundation for risk management. This model enhances efficiency, collaboration, and lifecycle management across projects.

Scalability and Agility: The structure supports planned growth and the integration of innovative technologies while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to industry changes, regulatory shifts, and evolving business models with minimal disruption.

Enhanced Collaboration: The new structure fosters collaboration across development, construction, operations, and commercial teams, addressing silos and enabling end-to-end alignment from project origination to long-term asset management.

Governance Alignment: The revised organisational structure aligns with the existing governance model, ensuring efficient decision-making and accountability at the appropriate organisational level. This alignment strengthens internal controls and risk management.

Conclusion

The Elgin Organisation Design Blueprint sets out a strategic framework to align Elgin’s organisation structure, capabilities, and processes with its business objectives. By addressing existing challenges and implementing a project-centric, shared services model, Elgin can enhance operational efficiency, support innovation, and achieve sustainable growth.

Project One value Add:

• Elgin needed capacity and expertise in organisational design driven by an objective, external perspective on roles and workflows to provide strategic alignment across leadership and functions
• Project One brought proven approach, frameworks, neutral facilitation, and speed and was able to build on prior work done to provide Elgin with a solution that they could have confidence in.