Ross Cooper
When did you join Natural Power?
I first joined Natural Power in March 2021 as an assistant project manager with the Irish construction team. In July 2022, I stepped into the project manager role and had the opportunity to work on a range of exciting projects until August 2023.
I then took a two-year break to travel and work across Australia, before returning to Natural Power in July 2025. It feels great to be back and contributing to the next wave of renewable energy projects in Ireland, now as a Senior Project Manager.
What does your role entail?
As a senior project manager at Natural Power, I provide owner’s engineer and project management services for renewable construction projects. Currently, I am acting as owner’s engineer project manager for a wind farm under construction in Ireland and a district heating network project in the UK.
My responsibilities include managing construction contracts from project kick-off to energisation and commissioning, overseeing grid connection works, and liaising with Distribution System Operator’s and Transmission System Operator ‘s to ensure safe, efficient integration into the national grid.
The role is hybrid: roughly half my time is spent at a desk, and the other half on site. There’s no “typical day” - I might be attending site to monitor works, conducting inspections and audits, or completing design reviews back at my desk. It always changes.
What are the most rewarding and challenging parts of your role?
For me, the most rewarding part of the job is seeing the turbines being erected on site and finally generating electricity. Months of hard work go into reaching this point, from setting early morning alarms to attend and witness foundation concrete pours in the cold winter months, to taking part in late-night turbine delivery trial runs to ensure components can reach the site without issues. It makes it all worthwhile when you see the turbines spin for first generation.
The most challenging part of my role is how fast-paced the renewable industry has become. Renewable technologies are constantly developing, improving, and adapting, and as a project manager it’s critical to stay up to date. Ireland has very ambitious climate targets, and to meet them there will need to be a diverse portfolio of renewable generation constructed over the next 10–20 years. The challenge will be ensuring the right skillsets are in place to deliver these projects. Challenging - but exciting!
What is the most interesting construction project you have been involved with and why?
I have been very fortunate to be involved in several interesting projects during my time at Natural Power, including managing the first RESS-1 wind farm project to be energised in Ireland and assisting on the first large-scale solar farm constructed in the country. Natural Power energising wind and solar in Ireland
The most interesting project to date is a recently energised hybrid site combining wind, BESS, and provisions for future solar development, all connected through a single point of connection, the first of its kind in Ireland. This project also featured the tallest turbines erected to date in Ireland, presenting unique technical challenges. Natural Power supports Statkraft’s landmark Cushaling Wind Farm and BESS go live
Provide a hidden talent or quirky fact about yourself.
Having taken over 10 years off the sport, I’ve recently got back into whitewater kayaking. You’ll now find me, admittedly a bit rusty, kayaking my local river, the River Inny in the Midlands of Ireland, almost every weekend.