Becoming a Renewable Energy Consultant

What Does a Renewable Energy Consultant Do?

Renewable energy consultants use their expert knowledge to develop, construct and operate renewable energy projects.

This will often involve analysing an organisation’s energy consumption to create strategies for efficient energy use, cost reduction and sustainability while ensuring that projects are delivered safely and in line with industry regulations.

Typical renewable energy consulting services include things like:

• Assessing the technical and commercial practicality of renewable energy projects.
• Managing project schedules, budgets and technical risks.
• Supporting FEED studies, detailed design reviews and commissioning activities.
• Advising clients on engineering solutions, regulatory requirements and industry best practice.

Which Renewable Energy Sectors Can Consultants Work In?

As the UK continues to invest in its energy transition, this has created opportunities for renewable energy professionals to work across a diverse range of technologies and projects.

Here are some examples:

Offshore Wind

Data from RenewableUK shows that offshore wind currently provides more than 17% of the UK’s electricity, with the UK aiming to deliver more than 43GW of offshore wind capacity by 2023.

This indicates that demand for renewable energy professionals will continue to grow.

Typical projects for an offshore wind consultant include:

• Offshore wind farm developments
• Export cable installation
• Turbine commissioning
• Operations and maintenance programmes

Hydrogen

Demand for hydrogen consultants is also expected to rise, as hydrogen plays an increasingly important role in helping the UK decarbonise industries that are difficult to electrify.

This role might involve Front-End Engineering Design (FEED), process engineering, commissioning or safety reviews and could be a good career transition for engineers with backgrounds in oil and gas.

Typical projects include:

• Green hydrogen production facilities
• Hydrogen storage systems
• Industrial decarbonisation projects
• Hydrogen transport infrastructure

Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS)

This is playing a significant role in the government’s plans to reduce industrial emissions while maintaining energy security.

In fact, the government has committed £21.7 billion over the next 25 years to support the UK’s first carbon capture projects.

Typical projects include:

• CO₂ transportation pipelines
• Offshore storage reservoirs
• Industrial decarbonisation schemes
• Existing asset repurposing

Setting Up a Limited Company as a Renewable Energy Consultant

Once you’ve decided to become a freelance engineering consultant, you’ll need to choose whether to work as a sole trader, an umbrella company contractor or through a limited company.

You’ll need to work out which one better suits your lifestyle and career path, but many contractors will choose the limited company route.

You can read more about your contracting options on our Choosing a Company Structure page.

Here’s how you go about setting up your own limited company:

Pick a company name.

When it comes to choosing a name for your company, think about words related to your industry or skillset so that people will recognise what your business offers.

There are also certain rules to consider, which you can read about on our Naming your Limited Company page.

Choose company roles

A company must have at least one director, and they will be legally responsible for running the business, making sure company accounts and reports are properly prepared, and money is used wisely.

It’s not mandatory to have a company secretary, but if you do, their role is usually to help with some of the director’s responsibilities.

Shareholders

You will need to have at least one shareholder within the company (who can also be a director).

There is no maximum number of shareholders, and the price of an individual share can be any value, but each person would need to be paid their shares in full if the company were to shut down.

Register your company

You’ll need to register your company through Companies House and have:

• A ‘memorandum of association’, which is a legal statement signed by all shareholders or guarantors agreeing to form the company.
• An ‘articles of association’ – these are written rules about running the company, agreed by the shareholders or guarantors, directors and the company secretary.

This process will take around 48 hours and comes with a small fee.

You can form a company with us – just take a look at our Company Formation page for more information.

You can become a Dolan Accountancy by clicking here. And, if you have any further questions, our team of experts are available to answer any queries, so give us a call on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com. Alternatively, contact us via live chat.