An investigation of project selection in the renewable energy sector of Zambia

Project selection and the development of its portfolio in line with corporate strategy is an important task of decision makers in the renewable energy sector of both public and private sector organizations. The selected projects have to meet appropriate time frame for completion and delivery, a suitable risk profile and other distinct factors in order to achieve corporate objectives. A modified Delphi approach has been applied in this study to investigate the best practice of project selection in the renewable energy sector of Zambia and to determine the factors that contribute to the optimal selection of projects and the associated strategic level decision making. The findings of this study indicate that no single best practice exists in this sector even though there are similarities in the criteria used. Each of the participants in the study consented to a particular criterion depending on the factors that are appropriate to their organizations’ regulatory environment, stakeholders, experiences and personnel capabilities. The study further revealed that of the factors that contribute to selection of projects, the most renowned are: energy/technical risk, personnel resources/capabilities, social, political, and environmental issues, knowledge of the work, governance, strategic alignment/leverage and time. All these factors were found to be significant to both public and private sector organisations and very influential on strategic decision making. The findings of this study are crucial to the applications of best practice of project selection and value of investment. Organisations that fail to give consideration of these factors when making their choice on projects will not fully realise the value on their investment. With these identified factors, organisations can develop project selection models that permit them to optimize time and money, minimize losses while maximizing the likelihood of success of projects. Keywords: Project selection, renewable energy, strategic decision making, Zambia