WINDPOWER 2019: Take charge of your professional development

Have you checked off any of your professional development goals for the year? Believe it or not, we are nearly halfway through 2019! Long days, short years, right? If you’re anything like the rest of us, you’ve probably thought about attending a conference, getting that certification or knocking out those CLE hours. There’s no better time than now. And you’re in luck – I know a place.

Next week, thousands of renewable energy professionals will gather in Houston for three days full of top-tier speakers, world-class education and cutting edge technology at WINDPOWER 2019. Smells like professional development to me!

And sure, this conference and expo provides numerous opportunities to meet new people, discover innovative products and services, connect with customers face-to-face, and finalize large-scale projects. The business development benefits at WINDPOWER speak for themselves, but there is exponential value in the diversity of the educational programing offered this year. One of the easiest ways to grow in your current role (or to prepare for the next) is to power your experience with continued learning. Think of WINDPOWER as the most efficient way to pick up important industry updates and hone your networking skills by gaining new contacts, all while participating in the larger discussion around the future of clean power.

With more than 60 sessions featuring 200+ energy experts, executives, and thought-leaders, the educational program is designed to provide timely learning opportunities for everyone. Whether you’re an analyst, wind tech, project manager, corporate communications lead, VP of business development, or asset manager, you’ll find something to help you get a little closer to your professional development goals at WINDPOWER.

Here’s an abbreviated list of the sessions by segment to give you an idea of the kinds of topics and speakers you’ll be exposed to:

For those in siting, asset management & environmental compliance:

• Wind power and Cybersecurity – Managing the Winds of Change
• Operational Strategies for an Aging Fleet
• Validation of Bat Deterrent Effectiveness through Full-scale Testing on Several Wind Plants
• Exploring the Potential Impacts on Birds and Bats from Taller Turbines

For those in offshore wind:

• Pre-Conference Seminar – The Growing Offshore Wind Industry: Supply Chain Projections and Opportunities Through 2030
• Innovating Offshore Wind Technology Leveraging Existing Offshore Energy Advances
• Balancing Co-existence in the Offshore – Many Users, One Ocean

For those who cross over into other renewables industries:

• The Potential Wind + Storage Roadmap
• A Shared Future: Electrification and Renewable Energy
• A Vision for the Power System of the Future with Wind Energy Abundance, from IEA Wind

For those in energy law:

• The Texas Story – From Wind at our Back to Strong Headwinds
• The Rise of the Hybrid Project and What You Should Know
• A Green New Deal, an Infrastructure Bill or a Carbon Tax – What will Congress Do?
• Trends in Wind M&A, Cost of Capital, and How Investors in US Projects Approach Risk

For those in finance & investment:

• Charting the Course: The US Offshore Financing Landscape
• New Winds on the Horizon – Where will the Wind Blow in Terms of Financing Structures Going Forward?
• Ensuring Investment Certainty as the PTC Phases Out

For those in O&M:

• Operational Strategies for an Aging Fleet
• Staying Ahead of the Curve and Avoiding Costly Pitfalls in Predictive Analytics
• The Art of Quantifying Wind Turbine Availability

For those in business development:

• U.S. Wind Outlook: Where, When, and How Much?
• Development in the 2020s: More Sites and Megawatts through Permitting and Repowering
• Hedging Your Bets: How to Crack International Markets

For those in corporate communications:

• Executive Panel on Public Acceptance: Confronting the Reality on the Ground and in the Water
• Understanding the Community-Level Economic Impacts Supported by the Rush Creek Wind FarmPower of Storytelling through Video to Change the Conversation and Inspire

For those in workforce development*:

• Meeting Workforce Needs in Wind Energy
• The Future Wind Energy Workforce
• Building the Wind Workforce

*On Thursday, May 23, the educational program and exhibition has content and activities dedicated to those working on the field in wind operations. If you or someone you know is a wind technician or a veteran working in wind, please contact [email protected] to redeem your complimentary pass to Thursday’s activities.

There are many more topics to explore before heading to Houston. View the full agenda here.

Register by May 19 to get the advanced registration rate. (Getting that lower registration rate is usually appreciated by managers approving professional development expenses!)