A Tale of Two Projects

What is the difference between Japan's Monju nuclear power plant and Hornsea Project 1?

Monju's construction started in 1986, and initial criticality was attained 12 years later, on schedule, in 1994. However, a fire delayed testing until 2010. During testing, an accident during fueling and the discovery of maintenance flaws resulted in the suspension of operations. In 2016 the government closed the plant for good. After more than 30 years and $12 billion, the 280-MW power plant has generated electricity for all of one hour.

The construction of Hornsea 1, a 1,200-MW offshore wind farm in the North Sea, began in 2016. The first power was generated in February 2019, and it was fully commissioned by October 2020.  The final project cost was $1.5 billion, approximately 16% under budget. 

What explains the failure and the success of these two projects? In short: smart scaling. Monju was a one-off project, slow and big. Hornsea was modular and fast. 

We find this pattern not only in energy projects but over and over again in transport infrastructure, IT, factories, and processing plants. Modularity and replicability enable projects and products to achieve large scale successfully.

This is what we call "smart scale-up".

For the first time, we have developed a series of three workshops that will help your organization to scale smarter and deliver more successfully.



Scale Smarter!

We have designed a highly practical series of workshops that will make your organization a smart-scale organization. Whether you are at the start of this journey or you need an extra boost.

Inquire today.

A Unique Series of Three Workshops

2-3 hours per workshop, up to 30 participants, delivered online, USD 25,000 for all three workshops, face-to-face and blended options available

  • Smart Scaling

    The first workshop introduces the idea of smart scaling, the enablers, and the outcomes. Your team will understand where the organization currently sits and develop ideas of how to move towards smart scaling.

  • Deep Dive: Modularity

    The second workshop explores modularity in more depth. We will explore what modularity means for your organization. We will explore lessons learned from others to help you evaluate and formulate your strategy and pathway to modularization.

  • Deep Dive: Speed

    The third workshop takes your team through a structured approach to understand, assess, and respond to the barriers and constraints of speed. In this workshop, your team will discover that many of the difficulties to accelerate the deployment of products, features, or deliverables can be removed or reduced.

Scale Smarter!

Contact our team to customize this unique workshop series to your needs.
Inquire today.

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