Energy and renewables

Why use energy and renewables solicitors?

We take a sector focus to our work, ensuring we are aware of the hot topics and challenges impacting our clients, and supporting us to provide tailored services and advice to best suit their needs.

We have experience within windfarms, solar farms, biomass plants, hydroelectrical schemes, battery storage schemes and low carbon homes. We regularly negotiate power supply and purchase agreements for renewable energy schemes. We also advise on turbine supply agreements, maintenance service and grid connection agreements. In addition we support clients with retro-fit renewable energy schemes including roof-top solar, battery storage and air-source heat pumps.

Our clients include several of the top 20 developers in Wales. We also provide advice on energy matters to major owners of land and/or property including Welsh Water, Welsh Government and local authorities; and funders in the sector including the Development Bank of Wales and Hodge Bank.

Our energy and renewables experience

As a full-service firm, we offer our clients a seamless blend of services to support energy and renewables projects including:

• Banking and finance
• Health and safety
• Commercial and procurement
• Information law
• Commercial property
• Insolvency
• Construction, infrastructure and projects
• Insurance and corporate risk
• Corporate and M&A
• Planning
• Dispute resolution including property litigation
• Projects (PPP, PFI, MIM)
• Employment
• Regulatory and environmental

Our energy and renewables clients

We act for:

• Pennant Walters
• Cenin Renewables
• Welsh Power
• Welsh Water
• Welsh Government
• Local authorities
• Social housing providers
• Development Bank of Wales
• Hodge Bank

Pennant Walters

Advising Walters Group’s clean energy arm, Pennant Walters, on multiple windfarm, solar and battery storage projects throughout the UK. This includes supporting our client to secure a revised planning permission for a windfarm development in Neath, increasing the tip height of the proposed turbines to 145m; and advising on a further extension of the very successful Pant y Wal Windfarm in Bridgend, with the addition of two turbines on land owned by The Welsh Ministers. Both projects were subject, respectively, to variations of extant permissions, including unilateral undertakings, community fund agreements, bonding arrangements and grid connection agreements.

Cenin Renewables

Advising Cenin Renewables in relation to a solar farm lease to be entered into with the Welsh Ministers Legal Service for the Bro Tathan site in the Vale of Glamorgan. Given the past uses of the site, we have been providing detailed advice on the clauses within the solar farm option and lease, dealing with planning and infrastructure obligations. We have advised on all property, planning and infrastructure and regulatory and environmental provisions relating to the proposed development.

Welsh Power

Advising Welsh Power in relation to the design and construction of six synchro condenser plants in the UK totaling more than £300m.
The plant contracts used the MF/1 form of contract and were negotiated with Spanish and German contractors. The civils works used the NEC4 ECC Option A and the cable contracts used the NEC Short ECC. As well as the usual risk profiles of these type of contracts, discussion, negotiations and drafting were also undertaken in relation to Covid-19, Brexit, the Ukraine war and the inflationary pressures in the industry.

Welsh Water

Advising Welsh Water on a proposed hydroelectric scheme at Alwen Reservoir, Conwy. Our team is advising on all legal and environmental aspects of the hydroelectric power and wind power projects with a view to ensuring environmental considerations during conception, project build and maintenance phases do not prejudice water quality or water catchment.

POBL

Advising Pobl, a Registered Social Landlord, on the construction aspects of a development for 450 units at a site in Tonyrefail, which contained innovative aspects including PV, ground source heat pumps, electric batteries, EV chargers, bespoke smart meters and bespoke energy management systems. Pobl is working with Sero Homes/ Energy in relation to many of the innovative aspects and we have advised and negotiated a collaboration agreement between Pobl, PEDC and Sero, and development agreement with Sero, to capture the roles, responsibilities and obligations of the parties.

Welsh Government

Advising Welsh Government on the provision of debt finance to the Newport Bus Company to assist with the electrification of the company’s bus fleet. We advised on the loan agreement, proposed security and the constitution of the company as a borrower (being wholly owned by a local authority). We worked closely with Zenobe Energy, the supplier of electric buses, batteries and charging points who held chattels security and delivered asset finance through the supply of goods.

Funding advice

The renewable energy sector is growing, and with that growth we have seen an increase in demand for a broad selection of funding options.

Our Hugh James banking team has worked on a range of transactions in the renewable energy sector. We understand the unique demands of funders and borrowers in the renewables market, having acted for a range of clients on refinance, acquisition and development loans in this sector.

We provide advice in relation to funding wind farms, anaerobic digestion plants, tidal power and solar farms.