Two Bristol-headquartered law firms have again been ranked as the world’s second and third most-active advisers on clean energy deals – although this year they have swapped places.
TLT is in second place for merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the Clean Energy Legal League Tables 2023 – taking the slot from rival Burges Salmon, who this year edges down to takes third spot.
The tables are compiled by Clean Energy Pipeline, which provides news, data and analytics for the renewables finance industry.
They rank the top 20 global law firms that provided legal advice to developers, businesses and investors on transactions for global clean energy project developments, technologies, energy project finance and M&A deals over the previous 12 months.
TLT, which employs around 1,400 people across its bases in Bristol, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, ranked as the second most active adviser in terms of the number of M&A deals completed in 2022.
During the year the firm advised on 59 clean energy M&A deals worth more than £1.4bn of investment. TLT also ranked 11th for its number of project finance deals, for having advised on 11 in 2022.
TLT corporate partner Kay Hobbs, pictured, said: “We’re delighted to once again be ranked as one of the top three most active clean energy advisers globally in Clean Energy Pipeline’s Clean Energy Legal League Table, moving from third place in 2022 to second place in 2023.
“It has been one of the busiest years on record for the team and, again, we have been involved in some of the largest and most ground-breaking clean energy projects in the country.
“It’s an honour to have our work recognised in the legal league table, which reflects our position as a leader in clean energy and a go-to adviser in the sector.”
TLT’s full service clean energy team operates across all three UK legal jurisdictions of England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The firm acts for all stakeholders including developers, debt funders, equity investors, contractors and suppliers including advising government departments on the implementation and operation of energy efficiency and renewables policy.
The team regularly advises on ‘first-of-a-kind’ projects including subsidy-free, multi-technology, energy storage, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and cleantech. 
Burges Salmon, which employs around 1,000 people in its Bristol HQ and London and Edinburgh offices, pointed out that over the past 10 years it had been the second most active law firm in clean energy M&A deals. In 2022 it advised on 52 transactions worth £705m, earning it third place.
In terms of the project finance league tables, the firm ranked 14th in the Top 20 legal advisors by number of deals table for nine transactions, totalling £555m.
Partner Camilla Usher-Clark, pictured, who leads Burges Salmon’s corporate energy M&A team, said: “Given that we are a UK law-focused firm and are up against some of the world’s largest law firms, to feature so highly in this year’s Clean Energy Pipeline rankings speaks volumes about the quantity and quality of transactions that we advised our clients on last year.
“To be placed second on an aggregate basis for deal volume over the past 10 years makes us very proud and is testament to both our fantastic team and also to having the right mix of expertise across the firm to be able to advise on some of the largest, most interesting and complex energy and net zero deals across the UK.”
Burges Salmon’s specialist energy & utilities and net zero lawyers advise a diverse mix of developers, utilities, and investors on transactions involving clean energy project developments and technologies, including solar, onshore/offshore wind, energy storage, hydro, geothermal, grid infrastructure, energy efficiency, hydrogen, green transportation, carbon capture & storage (CCS), biofuels, biomass and waste-to-energy.
