Skills
I have developed extensive experience in all phases of development, implementation and maintenance of renewable energy projects, especially grid, PV and wind assets.
In addition, over the years I have acquired skills in managing stakeholder relationships (including financiers, government entities, grid operators, electrical companies, EPC and O&M contractors, and clients, among others), leading and coordinate cross-functional teams to meet specific pipeline objectives within tight deadlines, contract negotiation, overseeing budgets to ensure economic viability of projects, financial forecasting and analysis of OPEX and CAPEX, as well as working with finance teams to validate invoices and optimise financial performance.
In addition, I excel in report writing, KPIs monitoring, database management and consistent adherence to project deadlines, ensuring successful project execution.
About
I am Amaia Araiz, an engineer specialized in renewable energies, with nearly 9 years of experience in the sector.
Climate change and how to adapt to it, rediscovering a healthy and respectful balance with the environment, have always been topics of great interest and motivation to me, and for this reason it was always clear for me that I wanted to direct my career towards a profession that would contribute to this mission.
I studied Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of the Basque Country (UPV), and for my final project I carried out a study of the hydroelectric potential in northern Navarre to calculate how self-sufficient this area could be.
Later, and also at the UPV, I deepened my knowledge of the sector by taking the Master's Degree in Integration of Renewable Energies at the electrical grid, where I carried out a Master's thesis on the Active Management of Energy Demand, aimed at reducing the use of fossil fuels, increasing the participation of clean energies and making the average citizen an important element in achieving this objective, all in the province of Navarra.
After completing my Master's degree, I started my career at Acciona Energía as a Control Technician at the CECOER (Renewable Energy Control Centre), where I learnt how, thanks to the monitoring and control of the company's wind and photovoltaic installations, it was possible to match generation and energy consumption in real time, taking into account less flexible generation sources (thermal and nuclear power stations) and avoiding very specific and extreme situations, such as grid restrictions sent by "Red Eléctrica", which were very demanding in terms of execution time.
I combined my third year in this company with a Master's Degree in Business Management and Administration, MBA, as I was interested in increasing my knowledge of business management and finance. The internship of this Master took me to Madrid, specifically to Veolia Spain, where I worked as Digital Transformation Engineer in a multidisciplinary team where I was able to apply techniques such as Agile Scrum and Balanced Scorecards to develop a corporate billing tool for energy efficiency contracts.
When this internship ended and I decided to stay in Madrid, opting for a role more focused on project management and client relations, always in the renewable energy sector. This is why I started working at Zabala Innovation Consulting as a consultant on R&D&I. Here I lead innovation projects in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors, for clients ranging from large industrial companies interested in making their production processes more efficient, to small energy communities with more social and environmental objectives.
After three years at Zabala, I had the opportunity to move to the startup Plexigrid, where I worked as Innovation Manager, managing innovation projects related to the flexibility of electricity distribution networks to accelerate the energy transition. It is a position of greater responsibility that has tested my project leadership and management skills, as well as my ability to direct and delegate tasks across different departments, with a very relevant purpose for the company, which is its funding from public sources.
With nearly four years of technical experience at Acciona Energía and Veolia Spain, and an additional four and a half years in project management and leadership roles at Zabala Innovation and Plexigrid, I am now seeking a position that allows me to develop my expertise in renewable energy assets and project management at a more strategic level.
I am (and will continue to be) committed to the renewable energy sector because I firmly believe it is essential to move towards an energy model with more electricity and more energy efficiency, which will make it possible to leave behind fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gases, improve the quality of life and restore the environment.
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