I am currently completing my MBA with a concentration in finance and have an undergraduate degree from TAMU in AgriBusiness. I am interested in getting into wind or solar energy in Texas. I have 4 years of experience in O&G sales and account management. I would love to get anybody's opinion on business development positions in this industry (or any feedback about the industry itself). Any input would be greatly appreciated.

1. What are top companies in the industry?

2. Are there any accreditations or certificates that are required or would bolster my chances of employment in this industry?

Etc.



Gig'em and Thank you for your time.

Pattern Energy Group
EDF
First Solar
Sunnova
EDP Renewables (yes, different than EDF)
Eon Climate and Renewables
Engie
Nextera

There's others, but those are some of the big ones. No special requirements or certifications to get into the industry.

Thank you for your response.

I've been in the industry a little over 6 months now (almost four years of consulting experience for energy overall including renewables). I'm on the environmental side; for licensing and permitting specifically as opposed to construction or operations. We are involved with projects from earliest concept to full-on construction, so we have a good perspective on the overall development side.

To be clear, the list above is not in order or fleet size that's for sure. But it does include most companies. NextEra won't be an option on the development side being based in south Florida and developers aren't allowed to be remote. There's an office in Houston, but it's 99% O&G with a small handful supporting renewables.

I only have the direct exposure to one company's development team, but it can be cut throat. It's one of those, keep up or oh well too bad concepts. It's fast paced, can be super stressful, but extremely rewarding. Lots of travel, lots of "after hours" work. Of course this is from the perspective of by far the leader in the industry. We're building more projects this year than most companies have in their entire fleet.

In Houston, I know EDF, EDPR, Pattern, and First Solar have offices but there's likely more these are the only ones I can think of. I don't think there many specific certifications that would help, but the MBA will look good.

Thank you for your input, much appreciated.

I am in the industry in Houston. I'm not in development, but the description above is absolutely correct. It is a lot of work and a lot of travel to not very exciting rural areas. If you throw yourself into the work, it can be very rewarding and there are plenty of opportunities to advance. I'm happy to talk to you in detail offline if you're interested. PM me or my email is my user name at gmail.

I've been in the business for 12 years. Feel free to PM me. Happy to help.

I know several people at all the companies ktown mentioned as well as some good renewable-focused recruiters in town.

It looks like you've received some good replies above. I noticed you mentioned solar, but you may want to broaden your net. There is still a good bit of wind work going on right now, and there should be some interesting battery energy storage projects in the future. I do consulting on the environmental side and the company I work for is the top solar design firm in the country.

Not to hijack the thread but environmental consulting is something I've been trying to get into since graduation and outside of a small pre-construction project and a year long post construction mortality monitoring on a windfarm I haven't been able to do much. I'd love to pick your brain on what I could do to make myself more appealing to consulting firms.

I added my email to my profile. Shoot me an email. I'd be glad to share what I know.

Pattern and EDF's development shops are in Houston.

I'm with Pattern. Ping me if you have questions.

AW, I tried to send you a PM. Could you PM me your email address?

Any of you guys need a good land surveying, aerial mapping, and SUE vendor? We're working with a few of the developers listed above already, and are looking to expand our market reach.