Master's Programme in Wind Power Project Management
Academic year 2023/2024
- 60 credits
- Autumn 2023, Visby, 100%, Campus
- Programme syllabus and outline
Wind power is developing rapidly globally, seeking to meet energy needs as well as to achieve low-carbon economic and environmental goals. As a result, there is a strong demand for highly qualified professionals with different backgrounds to lead interdisciplinary wind power projects. The Master's Programme in Wind Power Project Management combines management and technology as well as natural and social sciences, which prepares you for a promising career in the global wind power industry.
This one-year Master's programme is held at Campus Gotland in Visby, on the island of Gotland.
Why this programme?
Producing electricity using renewable energy sources, such as water, solar, and wind power is essential in reducing carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Currently, wind power has increased its share of Sweden's electricity from 2.4% in 2010 to 17.6% in 2021. This rapid development will continue and by 2040 all of Sweden's electricity will come from renewable sources. Similar goals and developments can be observed in several European countries and many other parts of the world. As a result, there is a strong demand for highly qualified professionals with different backgrounds to lead interdisciplinary wind power projects.
The one-year Master's Programme in Wind Power Project Management emphasizes the application and absorption of knowledge through frequent guest lectures with industry and academic experts, state-of-the-art simulations and planning methods, as well as site visits to wind farms and wind turbines. These experiences will increase your attractiveness in the job market and prepare you for a career in the wind power industry.
Critical thinking and oral and written communication skills are equally crucial for professional competence and these will be integral components of your curriculum. You will develop and practice these skills throughout the programme and they will be put to good use in your thesis work, where you will conduct independent research.
Today, our alumni hold key positions in various branches of the wind industry all over the world. During your studies, you will meet industry representatives, researchers, and experts from various academic fields essential to wind power development. This will enable you to establish relationships with potential future employers and build a broad network of contacts for later career development.
During the programme you can expect to:
- learn planning, project development, and management of wind farm projects,
- have close collaboration with industry representatives,
- combine technology and management from the perspectives of both natural and social sciences,
- prepare for a career in the global wind industry,
- collaborate with students and teachers from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds.
Student profile
You have a Bachelor's degree in social science, natural science, or engineering. You are interested in sustainability, wind power, or renewable energy projects. You may also have some work experience and are looking to make the transition to renewable energy and the wind power industry. You are seeking an educational experience that will sharpen your presentation skills and you want an opportunity to apply your knowledge in realistic and practical cases.
Degree
The programme leads to a Master of Science (60 credits) with Wind Power Project Management as the main field of study.
Name: Giacomo Partesana
From: Italy
What was your educational/professional background before starting the programme?
I have a Bachelor and Master Degree in Automation Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and I have worked in the Energy and Petroleum sector for 10 years. In particular, in the last 7 years, I covered the role of Project Engineering Manager in the design and construction of offshore platforms for oil & gas extraction.
Why did you choose to study this programme?
I wanted to acquire academic knowledge in Wind Power in order to steer my career towards the renewable energies sector. In my opinion, this programme at Uppsala University offered the perfect balance between technical and managerial topics. Specifically, I appreciated very much the 1-year programme’s final target. Through a feasibility study, students would be able to design a wind park, with the potential to obtain permission to be built and the best possible energy yield and profitability.
How has the programme been so far?
The first course is introductory and touches a lot of topics at a very high level, so at the beginning I was a bit confused and couldn’t see how the final objective would have been reached. But the following courses became more practical and dig in details to the right extent. And now that I’ve connected the dots I’m satisfied and sure this programme will prepare me for the wind industry job market.
Why do you think one should study Wind Power Project Management?
The wind energy sector is a very multidisciplinary context and it comes as no surprise that it is growing extremely rapidly. Therefore, there is a high need for professionals that are able to deal with many aspects, both technical and not. If you are a person interested in learning to a medium extent about all the aspects behind a Wind Power project development, this is just the programme you need. Moreover, the 2 years programme, available as an alternative, offers you the possibility to specialise in one of the main topics.
What would you say to the students who are considering applying to this program?
If you have no hurry to enter the job market (or return to it, like in my case), I would suggest you apply for the two-year programme and take advantage of the first year to understand what interests you the most within the second year’s available specialisations. Furthermore, here at Campus Gotland, you will be immersed in a special environment, where sustainability is leading the way and you’ll easily have the chance to become part of a small but very cohesive community.
Autumn 2021.
Programme
This one-year multidisciplinary programme is organised into themes of planning, project development, and management of wind farms. Different aspects of these themes are addressed at the beginning of the programme. As the programme is thematic, you often study several aspects of wind power project development and management together.
The autumn semester starts with a course in Wind Power Development and Management that provides the basic knowledge and skills in the field. It is followed by the courses Wind Resource Assessment, Planning for Wind Energy, and Wind Turbine Technology. These courses provide in-depth knowledge of meteorology, planning and permitting, wind resource assessment, environmental impact assessment, turbine technology, and stakeholder management.
In the spring semester, you will learn about the integration of wind power into the electrical grid. The knowledge gained in the previous courses will be applied to a project when you conduct a feasibility study. The semester concludes with an individual Master's thesis, which can also be done in collaboration with a company within the industry.
There is also a two-year Master's programme in Wind Power Project Management.
Courses within the programme
See the outline for courses within the programme.
Learning experience
The teaching of the Master's Programme in Wind Power Project Management is a combination of students' active participation and supervision of experienced lecturers. The teaching methods include lectures, seminars, group and project assignments, case studies, role-plays, study visits, computational labs, and individual work. Since most of the learning activities are based on group work and projects, and the intense study pace, it is essential that you take an active role throughout the programme.
The exercises are designed to emulate the real-world work in the wind power industry, including negotiation exercises, organising and holding stakeholder meetings, wind power project development simulation and steering committee meetings, etc. In project work, you can explore topics relevant to your background.
On-field trips, you will visit operating wind farms. You will learn on-site about the wind farm's construction from the project manager in charge of its development. You will be given the chance to perform a roughness analysis around turbines and climb a wind turbine to see first-hand the components that comprise an operational wind turbine.
We will have guest lecturers from the industry, some of which are our alumni. The alumni will provide you with insights into the role of a project manager and discuss the knowledge they find particularly important in their professional lives.
Students in the class are from various countries and have different backgrounds, which creates a welcoming and international study environment. It also contributes to the diversity of the class, making it a truly vibrant forum for discussions. You are always welcome to approach your teachers with questions and enquiries outside the lecture time.
You will learn industry-specific software such as WindPro and the modelling software WAsP. You will apply the knowledge you gain in a wind power project development case. You can also learn other relevant software, depending on your interest.
The programme is taught full-time, in English, at Campus Gotland.
Career
Wind power is a rapidly developing field due to cost reductions in technology as well as the increased incentive to move towards greater sustainability following the 2015 Paris Agreement. As a result of this development, the labour market in the field is promising. We see an increasing demand worldwide for well-trained professionals in the wind energy industry; project planners, service technicians, operations analysts, etc.
This Master's programme prepares you for global management positions across the wide spectrum of the wind energy industry. You can work for wind power development companies, companies operating wind farms, consulting firms, local and national governments, component manufacturing and supply chain companies, research institutions, or other organisations working with renewable energy and/or environmental issues.
Our graduates often find themselves highly sought after in the global labour market. Some of the positions held by our alumni are:
- Project Manager
- Senior Project Manager
- Renewable Energy Consultant
- Wind Resource Analyst
- Environmental Administrator
- Technical Planner Wind Energy
- Site Manager
- Concept & Layout Engineer
- Lead Turbine Suitability and Site Optimisation Engineer
- Operation & Maintenance and Construction Engineer
- Market Lead
- Fields Operations & Improvement Leader
- Senior Technical Project Lead
- Director Wind Operations Technology
- Business Development Manager
- Research & Development Engineer
- Lecturer
- Graduate Researcher
- PhD Student
If you have work experience in wind power or other industry, you may re-enter the labour market with advanced management skills, which qualify you for senior project management positions. Your professional career may also be in scientific or technical research and development, as a scientific or technical advisor, consultant, or project leader.
See statistics about our alumni's employment and read interviews with our former students.
Career support
During your time as a student, UU Careers offers support and guidance. You have the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities and events that will prepare you for your future career. Learn more about UU Careers.
Admissions
Below you will find details about eligibility requirements, selection criteria and tuition fees. For information on how to apply and what general documents you need to submit, check the application guide. Besides the general supporting documents, you also need to submit one programme-specific document: a statement of purpose (1 page).
Master's Programme in Wind Power Project Management
60 credits
Autumn 2023, 100%, Campus
Location: Visby
Application deadline: 16 January 2023
Application code: UU-M1871 Application
Language of instruction: English
Requirements:
Academic requirements
A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. The main field of study must be within engineering, science or social science.
Language requirements
Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. This requirement can be met either by achieving the required score on an internationally recognised test, or by previous upper secondary or university studies in some countries. Detailed instructions on how to provide evidence of your English proficiency are available at universityadmissions.se.
Selection: Students are selected based on:
- an overall appraisal of previous university studies; and
- a statement of purpose.
Fees:
If you are not a citizen of a European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) country, or Switzerland, you are required to pay application and tuition fees. Fees cover application and tuition only and do not cover accommodation, academic literature or the general cost of living. Read more about fees.
Application fee: SEK 900
Tuition fee, first semester: SEK 72,500
Tuition fee, total: SEK 145,000
Contact and further resources
Is this programme right for you?
- Photo gallery with pictures from the courses in the programme.
- See what our students have been up to in the programme
Contact
For programme-specific information, please contact:
Programme Director Liselotte Aldén: +46 498 10 83 64, WhatsApp: +46 732 70 37 24
For admissions-related or general information, please contact our applicant support team:
www.uu.se/education