Power
Overview
Our lawyers have acted on several of the world’s leading power projects, working alongside major contractors and providing secondees to major contractors and system operators.
Advising on the building, ownership and operation of power plants takes sector-specific knowledge and experience. Our Energy group helps clients all over the world with all aspects of power generation, supply, transmission (including interconnectors), distribution and offtake.
We have considerable experience in project development, operation and financing agreements required for complex power projects in different parts of the world.
Our legal team has detailed knowledge of various sub sectors within the power industry. For example, we advise on projects involving complex transmission and distribution systems. We advise clients including Governments, licensed operators of national grids and local distribution network operators, independent power producers, as well as utilities and leading energy companies from across the world, including those in the renewables sector. Our lawyers also have experience assisting developers involved with distributed generation, microgeneration and microgrids.
We act for a number of power purchasers and power distributors on the offtake side. Our clients include regulatory bodies in multiple jurisdictions. We have worked on a number of large power plants transactions across the globe, in each instance applying detailed knowledge of offtake arrangements both in terms of project economics and due operation of the facilities.
The BCLP team includes lawyers who focus on infrastructure finance, non-contentious construction, contentious construction, commercial dispute resolution, engineering, and regulatory and environmental advice. Our lawyers pool knowledge across jurisdictions, helping to provide clients with a smooth and efficient service.
Experience
- Advised a Greek energy company on the development and financing of a 400MW combined cycle power plant in Greece.
- Acting for an electricity and gas utility company in the UK for over a decade, significant projects have included:
- a cartel claim worth £143m; the £650m North Wales Connection project, which is one of the company’s major projects to connect to new nuclear generation
- acting on the next phase of the London Power Tunnels project, which will see the construction of an underground electricity ‘superhighway’ encircling London
- working on its Mid-Wales power lines project
- advising on the a significant project in North – East England, which was a proposal for a pipeline designed to take carbon emissions out to sea for storage beneath the sea-bed.
- Advising a big 6 utility in the UK on various electricity supply arrangements including the innovative use of battery storage technology.
- Advising on the planning aspects of the UK-France High Voltage AC and DC Interconnector running through the Channel Tunnel.
- Represented a trading and investment business conglomerate as the foreign sponsor and equipment supplier on its bid for the greenfield construction of a 2x660MW power plant project, including drafting and conducting negotiations on the PPA and operation and management agreement.
- Advising the government of a ME country on:
- the restructuring and liberalisation of the power and water sectors
- preliminary structuring and contracts for the interconnection of the main transmission system of the country to the GCC Interconnector through Abu Dhabi
- all aspects relating to the competitive procurement of a 550-600 MW and 120,000m³ per day IWPP on a BOO basis. The project also involved the combined sale of an existing power plant.
- A British multinational electricity and gas utility company on all planning, environmental and real estate aspects of one of the world's largest underground storage projects.
- A big 6 Utility on a high profile claim for damages due to overcharges paid for the purchase of High Voltake Power Cables.
- An oil and gas major on the operation and maintenance agreements and entry/exit agreements for the UK/Belgium Gas Interconnector.
- Advising a top global coal producer, on acquisition of a 78% stake in one of the biggest heat and electricity generation companies in Siberia.
- Developers and funders of over [100] renewable energy generation and storage projects across the world using a range of technologies including wind, solar, energy from waste and lithium ion batteries.
- Advising a private utility company on the provision of power under a PPA from an onsite biomass plant. The plant, developed by a green utility company, in a 20-year, £200m deal, provides renewable power and heat to the Beckton sewage works.
- Advised a large U.S. utility in connection with the purchase by one of its regulated affiliates of a 150 MW wind project in Ohio from the developer structured as the purchase of the project company from the developer upon substantial completion of the project, with the developer coordinating third party construction contractors, and an O&M agreement with the developer, including review of the material project documents, real property matters and land use approvals, and regulatory approvals.
- Advised a consortium in their acquisition and $123.4 million financing of 5 electric generating facilities in California.
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