Powering Project Approval
in the Renewable Energy Sector
Borealis: helping renewable energy companies power best practices in stakeholder relations.
The client
An American-led multinational corporation specializing in the development, construction, ownership, and operation of power generation, transmission, and energy storage ventures across the Americas, Europe, and Japan.
The company’s diverse portfolio encompasses wind, solar, long-distance transmission, and natural gas power generation, as well as energy storage facilities.
Main challenges
In the U.S., the strong drive to modernize renewable energy infrastructure is generating stiff competition, but also stricter public outreach requirements tied to permitting. This requires evidence-backed social acceptance and participation, proactive planning, and commitments to actively inform and facilitate the participation of those affected by new energy projects.
To get its renewable onshore and offshore projects approved as projected, our client needs stakeholders in project communities to understand the need and use of land. Failure to secure their agreement means no permits and no project.
To keep up with the growing demand for energy, renewable energy projects are large-scale, long-term, and include vast numbers of stakeholders spread across multiple communities and states – creating complex multifaceted engagement scopes. As a result, the client manages stakeholder relationships in a highly efficient, respectful, and productive manner. Stakeholder data management must be impeccable – such as remembering what was said to a given stakeholder years ago, and from various positions and advocacy lenses.
The solution
Borealis stakeholder
management software
The company chose to implement a fit-for- purpose solution: the Borealis Stakeholder engagement module with the Team Data Segregation add-on.
Key benefits
» Easy access to complete stakeholder contact data & engagement history
» Fast, flexible reporting on all stakeholder communications
» Powerful analytics to strengthen engagement strategy
» Data segregation to share need-to-know data with internal and external project development partners
How the client manages stakeholder relationships
Our client’s business imperative is to be in project communities from the start. It embraces best practices in stakeholder relationships and works hard to maintain constant and professional communications with its many community stakeholders.
The problem? Not all legacy information on stakeholders was being properly tracked. Lost information and wasted time were impacting engagement efforts.
Our client needed an easier way to record and track the vast quantities of stakeholder information it was collecting – including key details of stakeholder emails, phone calls, as well as meeting and event participation.
Why the client chose Borealis
The client investigated a few stakeholder engagement solutions and considered developing an internalsolution. But after reviewing Borealis’s capabilities, the decision was clear.
Not only was Borealis user-friendly and packed with features, but it also had a successful track record in the renewable and large linear infrastructure energy sector.
Being an active and responsible community partner is at the heart of everything that we do. We needed to find an efficient, user-friendly way to track interactions, allowing us to grow relationships with each touchpoint instead of starting fresh each time. By choosing a solution that was fit for us right off the shelf, we’ve saved so much time! We would probably still be testing out other solutions or customizing an internal database right now instead of breezing through it.
How the client uses Borealis
At the beginning of a project, the team enters all known stakeholders in Borealis – names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, the company they work for,etc. Once the project starts to progress, the team uses the software to record and plan stakeholder meetings and community events. Theycan also use the map to know where interactions take place compared to the project route or area.
Users can also see which local and government officials they need to connect with and make aware of the project. They track all engagement efforts and stakeholder communications directly in Borealis to generate regular reports for management. Users log into Borealis severaltimes a week, if not daily.
A key goal is to talk to as many stakeholders as quickly and efficiently as possible, always with a purpose. To stay on target, the team uses Borealis to generate monthly reports to track how many communications were sent out. It also uses weekly reports to inform planning and discussions during weekly coordination meetings.
The client is also breaking down information silos. The team talks to local, federal, and state stakeholders. It also has working groups that engage with project communities, including external consultants who specialize in tribal relations.Borealis provides a centralized tool to make the most of the vast quantities of stakeholder information being collected on projects throughout the U.S.
We use Borealis to keep track of exactly what was discussed with our many stakeholders so that later we can go back and review. This allows us to start a new conversation from where we left off, which supports organic relationship building. Adding notes to a stakeholder’s record – like if they’ve received a local community grant or are a member of a local organization or Chamber of Commerce – helps us engage with stakeholders in a more meaningful and professional way, because we know their interests and what the next step is.
Borealis features most appreciated by users
» Centralized stakeholder database – users have a single point of truth
» Mapping tool – users can see stakeholders and government officials along the project’s route
» Notes in stakeholder records – users can add more nuanced context – such as things not to say, times not to bother the stakeholder, preferred means of communication, etc.
» Outlook plugin – users can add emails to a stakeholder’s record directly from Outlook
» Detail view of stakeholder records – users can see everything about an individual or organization in one spot
» Universal search – users can search for anything on the home page
» Reporting & analytics tools – users can track numerous key metrics
» Widgets & calendar – users can see what they need to do, when the next meeting is, when they need to respond to a shareholder, etc.
How Borealis has strengthened stakeholder relationship management
» Access to full stakeholder information and communication history is creating more cordial, efficient, and respectful stakeholder relationships and interactions
» Keeping track of different consultants, outreach programs, and efforts is now much easier
» Data is now always within easy reach, letting team members spend more time engaging rather than looking for lost emails
» Demonstrating respect for stakeholders and compliance with engagement best practices is positively influencing public perception of the renewable energy industry
Borealis is a great platform. It’s one of the easiest and most user-friendly platforms we’ve used. We got great training from Borealis and it went quickly, with no issues. Users love it and change management was seamless.
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