To become carbon net-zero by 2050, it is essential that we decarbonise the consumption of heat, which accounts for 37% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. The wide scale deployment of district heating networks within our built environment will be critical to achieving this.
Our cross-practice national team has been working on all aspects of district heating projects for many years. We are experts in this rapidly growing and changing sector and can use our experience to ensure you receive commercially focused, relevant advice.
In addition to this, we are also leading experts on all aspects of local government, property development and have extensive experience on the delivery of complex infrastructure projects. We combine all of this to offer comprehensive legal advice across the entire lifecycle of a district heating project, through feasibility, commercialisation and all the way through to project delivery, including:
- Strategy — acting for public sector clients on the early stages of projects
- Funding — grant funding, asset finance, project finance, receivables financing, facility agreements, shareholder loans, security documentation
- State Aid — we regularly advise local authorities, universities, grant funding bodies and developers on State Aid compliance matters,
- Joint ventures/partnerships — advising on joint venture arrangements and different delivery models that are available in the context of a major infrastructure project
- Procurement — we have extensive experience providing end-to-end advice to procuring authorities on the delivery of major projects
- Regulatory — the future of heat regulation, supply/generation/distribution licence exemptions and third party access to private distribution networks
- Planning — strategic planning advice, permitted development rights, s106 agreements, DCOs and obtaining planning permission;
- Real Estate — title structures, due diligence and drafting and negotiating all property agreements required such as energy centre leases, pipeline leases and easements;
- Project Agreements — drafting and negotiating all project agreements including construction agreements, concession agreements, supply agreements with customers and connection agreements;
- Supply Agreements — advising on all customer agreements, including for residential and non-residential customers and agreements for bulk supplies and void periods;
- Contract Management — as well as project managing the delivery phase we can help you with ongoing contract management issues during the life of the project.
Relevant experience
- Advising Liverpool City Council on the ESCO arrangements for the supply of heat and electricity to its multi-phase mixed use development at Paddington Village
- Advising Pure World Energy on a number of on-site CHP projects for the long term supply of heat and power to various commercial and industrial customers
- Advising Stanhope on the procurement of an energy services company to adopt and operate a district heating system for the supply of heat and power to the Television Centre development in West London
- Advising Land Securities on the procurement of an energy services company to adopt and operate a district heating system for the supply of heat and power to the Nova development in Victoria
