Europe – Global Power Law & Policy

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESENTS REPOWEREU PLAN

May 19 2022

Policy and Regulatory and Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources Alert

By: Tariq A. Fedda, Miguel A. Caramello Alvarez, Giovanni Campi, Inês S. Mendes, Paula Esteban Gomez

The European Commission (the Commission) presented on 18 May 2022 details of its plan to repower Europe and to reduce, and ultimately end, Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels (the REPowerEU Plan or the Plan)¹ that was announced on 8 March 2022.

It aims to do this with three pillars: energy conservation; diversifying supplies; and quickly substituting fossil fuels by accelerating Europe’s clean energy transition, all while smartly combining investments and reforms.

The Plan acknowledges that the shift away from Russian fossil fuels will also require targeted investments for security of supply in gas infrastructure and very limited changes to current oil infrastructure, alongside large-scale investments in the electricity grid and an EU-wide hydrogen backbone. As such, the different elements of the Plan, which comprise a series of proposals, communications and guidance documents, will be of interest to anyone participating in the energy markets in Europe, including developers of renewable and conventional energy projects, buyers and sellers of commodities, and even households.

READ FULL ALERT

We Have ESG Down to the Letter

May 13 2021

Our integrated environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) approach is designed to help our clients navigate ever-evolving standards and add value to their companies. We’ve structured our broad scope of ESG services within coordinated and collaborative areas of focus, including corporate governance, investing, energy, and agriculture. These global teams span regions and industries to address an array of issues, from legislative, regulatory, and policy matters, to fund launches and environmentally responsible corporate initiatives.

We can evaluate and advise your business from E to S to G.

For more on our ESG practice, please click here.

Join Us for a Webinar: The Promise of Fusion Energy May Be Closer Than You Think

Sep 24 2020

Join us on 1 October 2020 for a webinar on fusion energy.

For nearly 100 years, scientists and engineers, as well as science fiction authors and fans, have dreamt of harnessing fusion reactions to power our economy. Despite daunting technical challenges, fusion energy may become a technically viable and economic energy source in the coming years, as an attractive carbon-free baseload alternative to conventional energy sources.

As the energy sector progresses towards commercial fusion, governmental regulators around the world are considering how they should treat fusion facilities. Two of the most active jurisdictions for commercial fusion development are the United States and the United Kingdom. Along with Fire Energy and Prospect Law, members of our K&L Gates fusion energy team will provide an update on the regulatory approaches to fusion that the US and UK are taking, the prospects for differentiating regulations for future fusion facilities from those applicable to existing fission-powered nuclear plants, next steps in developing regulatory certainty for the emerging fusion power sectors in these nations, and include a section on risk and the management of risk through insurance.

For more information and to register, please click here.

CLE Presentation: COVID-19: Perspectives for the “Next New Normal” for Renewable and Utility Companies

May 27 2020

Join us on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, for a CLE presentation on “COVID-19: Perspectives for the “Next New Normal” for Renewable and Utility Companies.”

Companies are seeing unprecedented legal and business impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts are bringing about changes in strategy and how many companies approach their day-to-day business operations to adapt to this new business environment. This one-hour session will involve a presentation by the following K&L Gates attorneys sharing their perspectives on what to consider during the “next new normal.”

Moderator:

Michael D. Cuda, Partner, Banking & Asset Finance

Panelists:

April Boyer, Partner, Labor, Employment and Workplace Safety
Jamie Lavergne Bryan, Partner, Oil, Gas & Resources
Elias B. Hinckley, Partner, Power
John M. Sylvester, Partner, Insurance Recovery and Counseling

This presentation will include the evolving legal and business impacts of COVID-19 in connection with:

Contract Issues
Insurance Issues
Potential Work Issues
Litigation Trends

This webinar will contain a chat feature in which you can submit questions so that we may tailor this presentation to address your concerns.

To register, please click here.

K&L Gates’ Quick Guide to the Polish Auction System for Renewables

Sep 21 2018

K&L Gates is pleased to introduce our Quick Guide to the Polish Auction System for Renewables. Find the full version of the guide here.

Wind energy is breaking new ground in Poland. After a few years of stagnation, there is well-grounded optimism for the dynamic development of onshore and offshore RES.

A 1000 MW wind auction is expected in November 2018, with more to come in 2019. Bidders will compete in offering the lowest price over a 15-year period, plus indexation, and the auction winners will receive an estimated 12–15 billion PLN, i.e., ca. 4 billion EUR over this period.

The government is working on a separate piece of legislation concerning public support for the first offshore wind farms on the Polish Baltic Sea. However, concessions for offshore wind are already awarded and the industry is gearing up for the construction phrase. Offshore wind will likely feature here sooner rather than later.

Never before experienced growth is also anticipated in the solar market, with an auction for around 750 MW of new capacity in 2018. This exceeds by a few times the capacity of all solar installations existing so far in Poland.

The auctions are bound to bring the country closer to meeting the 15% target of renewables’ share in electricity generation. The Polish renewable generation will finally get a much needed boost after the delays experienced on the EU 2020 path.

It is therefore our pleasure to present this quick guide on the auction system for renewables – a compendium of knowledge prepared by the Polish Wind Energy Association and one of the association’s members

– K&L Gates law firm.

We hope that you will find the guide interesting.

Act on Electromobility and Alternative fuels Enters into Force

Feb 13 2018

By Dr. Karol Lasocki, Piotr Michajłow, and Paulina Barańska

The Act of 11 January 2018 on Electromobility and Alternative Fuels enters into force on 22 February this year. It establishes a system of incentives for the promotion of the use of vehicles powered by alternative fuels, mainly electricity, and also introduces mechanisms for initiating investments in the necessary infrastructure.

The Act introduces into Polish law the requirements of Directive 2014/94/EU of 22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure. EU Member States are to ensure that by 31 December 2020, an appropriate number of publicly available recharging points have been created to allow electrically powered vehicles to move at least in urban/suburban agglomerations and other densely populated areas.

To read the full alert on K&L Gates HUB, click here.

Cyber-physical Attacks on Critical Infrastructure: What’s Keeping Your Insurer Awake at Night?

Mar 06 2017

By James E. Scheuermann

Cyber-physical attacks on critical infrastructure that have the potential to damage those physical assets and to cause widespread losses to third parties are keeping your insurer awake at night. A cyber-physical attack on critical infrastructure occurs when a hacker gains access to a computer system that operates equipment in a manufacturing plant, oil pipeline, a refinery, an electric generating plant, or the like and is able to control the operations of that equipment to damage those assets or other property. A major cyber-physical attack on critical infrastructure is a risk not only for the owners and operators of those assets, but also for their suppliers, customers, businesses and persons in the vicinity of the attacked asset, and any person or entity that may be adversely affected by it (e.g., hospital patients and shareholders).

Because damages caused by a cyber-physical attack can be widespread, massive, and highly correlated, affecting multiple sectors of the economy and many lines of insurance, the insurance industry is giving this risk heightened attention. The U.K. insurance marketplace Lloyd’s, London and the University of Cambridge, for example, conducted a major study of the losses resulting from a hypothetical cyber-physical attack on 50 electrical generators in the Northeast U.S. Other insurance market participants have also published reports addressing cyber-physical risks to critical infrastructure. The insurance industry’s focus on cyber-physical risks perhaps should be action-guiding for corporate policyholders as well.

To read the full alert on K&L Gates HUB, click here.

Regulation on Wholesale Energy Markets Integrity and Transparency – Are you REMIT Compliant?

Aug 10 2016

By Christine Braamskamp, David A. Savell, Philip J. Morgan, Steven C. Sparling and Jonathan L. Hoff

The regulatory and enforcement landscape of the European natural gas and electricity markets is changing considerably following the last stage in the implementation of the Regulation on Wholesale Energy Markets Integrity and Transparency (EU) No 1227/2011 (REMIT). REMIT is a European Union Regulation designed to deter market abuse in natural gas and electricity markets. It came into force on 28 December 2011, but full implementation in Member States has been phased in over the years since then. Crucial regulator enforcement powers and sanctions were introduced in the UK in 2013 and 2015, and rules relating to data reporting have become fully operational in 2016.

K&L Gates Advises Boralex Inc. on €280 Million Acquisition of Enel Green Power France, Making Boralex the Largest Independent Wind Power Producer in France

Jan 20 2015

New York – A cross-border team of lawyers from global law firm K&L Gates LLP has advised Québec-based Boralex Inc. (TSX: BLX) on its acquisition of French wind farm owner and operator Enel Green Power France SAS for a total net consideration of approximately €280 million in cash. The transaction makes Boralex the largest independent wind power producer in France, and the third largest onshore wind player, behind only the two incumbent French utilities.

The K&L Gates team advising Boralex on the acquisition and on the related approximately €175 million project financing was led by New York corporate partners Sandy Feldman and Holly Hatfield. Other members of the team include New York tax partner Adam Tejeda and corporate associate Justin Purtle; Paris corporate partners Olivia Lê Horovitz and Caroline Ledoux, tax partner Bertrand Dussert, real estate counsel Joanna Klat, corporate associates François Lan, Nawal Sabsibo, and Alexandre Brossier, and labor and employment associate Julie Bouchard; and Frankfurt finance partners Matthias Grund and Bastian Bongertz and finance associate Dominik Pauly.

K&L Gates regularly represents Boralex in both the U.S. and Europe, including in previous transactions in France such as the 2012 acquisitions of French wind company interests from both U.S.-based AES Corporation and French company InnoVent SAS.

See original post here.

Upcoming Event: Investing in Renewable Energy 2.0

Apr 29 2014

On May 15, 2014, K&L Gates will host its annual event on investment in renewable energy in its Frankfurt office. The event is co-sponsored by Grontmij and Alexa Capital.

The program will address recent developments that shape the environment of investment in renewable energy, focusing on investment in the UK while also covering German and European trends.

As in previous years, the program will combine legal and commercial perspectives, and presents speakers with professional backgrounds in project development, M&A, finance and law, all widely experienced in the renewable energy sector.

This year, program and speakers include:

The Development of the Yield Co: implications for investing in renewables and energy

Gerard Reid, Partner, Alexa Capital

UK Energy Market Reform: what it means for investors

Anthony Fine, Partner, K&L Gates, London

Paul Tetlow, Partner, K&L Gates, London

UK Power Grids: opportunities and solutions for renewable energy industry

Vijay Shinde, Head of UK Grid Services, Grontmij, Newcastle

Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs): the growing need and what it means for renewable investors

Dr. Felix Grolman, CEO, Grundgrün Energie GmbH

The Future of Offshore Wind

Ian Nolan, Chief Investment Officer, Green Investment Bank

Yield Cos: strategies to lower the cost of capital

Mark Henderson, Partner, Greencoat Capital

Nick Boyle, CEO, Lightsource

Development Companies: entering and operating in the UK

Thomas Kercher, CEO, PFALZSOLAR GmbH

Oliver Christof & Constantin Windisch-Graetz, Christof AG

Renewable Energy 2.0: what it means for all of us

Anthony Fine, K&L Gates (Chair)

Vijay Shinde, Grontmij

Gerard Reid, Alexa Capital

Felix Groelman, Grundgrün Energie GmbH

Mark Henderson, Greencoat Capital

Nick Boyle, Lightsource

For more information: click here.

For registration: click here.

Catagory:Europe