It is more important than ever for all organisations to have a robust and credible net zero and energy management strategy for the future. From attracting and retaining talent (particularly millennials), enhancing your brand and securing external funding, the value of sustainability should not be underestimated and can no longer be ignored.
We act for energy consumers in all sectors, specialist energy services companies (ESCOs), funders and developers implementing energy management projects as part of a sustainability strategy to achieve key priorities such as reducing carbon emissions, improving their reputation, generating income streams, protecting against volatile energy prices and reducing utility costs. This includes:
- advising generators and offtakers on all aspects of the conclusion of corporate power purchase agreements, or Corporate;
- Energy efficiency projects including through the use of Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) structures
- On-site or near-site “behind-the-meter” distributed generation projects, potentially combined with energy storage
- Energy-as-a-service and demand-side response agreements being offered by ESCOs, aggregators and new market entrants;
- “smart buildings” and sustainable construction; and
- “smart” grid projects, including the incorporation of smart metering, smart tariffs, EV charging infrastructure and peer-to-peer energy trading.
Our multi-disciplinary team of experts are able to provide you with comprehensive legal advice in respect of all aspects of your energy management project, including:
- Property — land acquisition, title due diligence, reports on title
- Planning — strategic planning advice, permitted development rights, s106 agreements, DCOs and obtaining planning permission
- Environmental — environmental impact assessments, environmental permitting, liability for hazardous substances and contamination, emissions trading schemes
- Regulatory — supply/generation/distribution licensing issues, private wire regulation, fiscal incentives, grid access and grid charging
- Projects — all project agreements that are needed for energy management project
- Corporate — shareholder agreements, joint venture agreements, share acquisitions and disposals, equity funding arrangements, tax advice
- Banking and finance — grant funding, asset finance, project finance, receivables financing, facility agreements, shareholder loans, security documentation
- Disputes and Risk Management — ongoing contract management, dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration, pre-litigation action
Relevant experience
- Advising New Resource Partners in the negotiation and completion of a six-party consortium agreement for the development of a decentralised smart energy network in the greater Liverpool area. The project utilises new, innovative technology and is being part-funded by Innovate UK
- Advising a private equity house on the acquisition of an energy company that owns a number of energy from waste projects. This involved advising on the underlying project agreements for the construction and operation of an energy from waste plant and the long term energy supply agreement for the offtake of the steam and electricity generated by the plant
- Advising a network operator in connection with the creation of the legal framework and documents for a multimillion pound development of a battery storage and gas generation site involving more than 600 potential development sites
- Advising a renewable energy developer in all legal matters in connection with its development of a portfolio of behind the meter rooftop solar PV projects, providing power to commercial and industrial customers under long-term PPAs
- Advising YES Energy Solutions in connection with developing its new product offering services to consumers (homeowners and occupiers) in relation to energy management/efficiency in accordance with the Government’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO) programme, ECO3
- Advising a number of funders and developers in order to create a template suite of “synthetic” and “sleeved” corporate PPAs which could be used to finance utility-scale subsidy-free renewables projects and on-site behind the meter projects with large energy consumers.
