Specialist teams from Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon have advised on three major transactions in the energy sector, including a ‘pioneering’ £40m deal that could provide a blueprint for local authorities to reduce their carbon emissions and cut costs.
The power purchase agreement (PPA) between international renewable energies player Voltalia and the City of London Corporation includes building a 49.9MW solar power plant to supply green electricity to the City.
The transaction is a first of its kind in the UK to be signed directly between a renewables producer and governing authority and could pave the way for a host of similar deals.
The PPA includes all the electricity produced by a new-build 95,000-panel solar farm in Dorset for 15 years.
Burges Salmon’s renewables team, led by partner Ross Fairley, advised Voltalia, which has had a presence in the UK since 2012, developing, constructing and operating 22 solar farms with a total capacity of 193MW – with more in the pipeline.
Voltalia UK country manager Simon Holt said: “Burges Salmon has a long and impressive track record in corporate PPAs and were a great help to Voltalia in bringing this deal to fruition.
“Whilst Voltalia has enjoyed success in international markets, the specifics of the UK market and PPA expectations needed specialist care and attention. Ross Fairley was a valuable asset to our bid team giving us the knowledge and insight to put us in a winning position.”
Meanwhile the firm’s projects team advised Exeter-based Low Carbon on three new PPAs with Tesco as part of the retailer’s commitment to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030.
The PPAs for Low Carbon, a leading renewable energy investment and asset management company, will lead to it creating three solar farms in Essex, Anglesey and Oxfordshire which will generate up to 130GWh of energy a year, enough to power 44,828 three-bedroom homes, and will save 30,308 tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of taking 14,457 cars off the road.
Burges Salmon’s energy, power and utilities practice has also advised Reading-based energy efficiency specialist Anesco on the sale of an 81MW operating battery storage portfolio to Gore Street Energy Storage Fund.
The £28.2mi deal includes 14 UK-based assets of varying sizes in a number of locations including Derbyshire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester and facilitates a wider partnership between Anesco and Gore Street under which Anesco will continue its ongoing operations and maintenance and asset optimisation services for the batteries.
Burges Salmon partner Will Woodall led the team advising on the transaction.
