Project Finance

Our project finance lawyers provide valuable sector expertise and inter-disciplinary advice on project finance transactions.

Overview

Our project finance lawyers are well-known as leading advisers, acting for borrowers and lenders on private and PPP/PFI project finance transactions. We can guide you through the structuring of debt and agreement of term sheets through to negotiation of all project finance documents including loan, bond, private placement, guarantee, security, intercreditor, direct and hedging agreements.

Our integrated team of specialists has vast experience in delivering bankable project documents for project sponsors (including planning and consenting, real estate, construction, feedstock and offtake contracts in addition to applicable regulatory issues) and in carrying out due diligence for lenders across all project contracts.

Because we act for lenders, borrowers and those in the supply chain, we appreciate the commercial and legal requirements of all parties, ensuring more effective transaction advice and efficient execution.

We combine our project finance expertise with other finance structures to advise on the financing of the acquisition of energy and infrastructure assets, the asset financing of energy and infrastructure assets, the re-financing of operational assets, energy fund finance, and the securitisation of cash flows.

Our extensive network of contacts within the project finance industry means that we are often able to effect introductions for our clients and work collaboratively with industry counterparts to achieve the best results for our clients.

Our energy project finance experience extends across a wide range of technologies including wind, solar, fuelled renewables, storage, energy from waste and wave and tidal. In the PPP/PFI market, we have experience advising on project financing issues across a broad range of sectors including defence, highways, street lighting, hospitals, prisons and schools.

Areas of focus

Our project finance lawyers are particularly regarded for their knowledge in the following areas:

Banking
Real estate
Planning
Construction
Energy
Corporate
Renewable energy and waste (including wind, biomass, solar, anaerobic digestion, waste and hydro technologies)
Nuclear
Infrastructure

Experience

Advising Rabobank, Santander and TriplePoint as lenders on a battery storage construction financing for TagEnergy BESS sites in England and Scotland.

Advising EDFI MC and REPP as Lenders on a LSL150 million combined senior debt and equity investment to renewable energy provider "OnePower" to finance a portfolio of solar mini-grid sites in Lesotho. This is the second largest project-financed mini-grid transaction in Africa to reach financial close.

Advising FMO, the Dutch development bank, in the refinancing of the 20MW Senergy solar plant in Senegal.

Advising EDFI ElectriFI in its subscription for USD 5m junior debt in PEG Africa to finance its distribution of Solar Home Systems in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal.

Advising EDFI ElectriFI on funding to REDAVIA Solar Power in Kenya.

Advising GCP Infrastructure Investments Limited on Eden’s ground-breaking geothermal project that sees Eden Geothermal Limited announce £16.8m funding, secured from a mixture of public and private sources, to drill the first well for their pioneering geothermal heat and power project.

Advising on the project finance, acquisition finance and fund financing of over a GW of solar (ground and rooftop) pv projects for lenders and sponsors including Bluefield, Octopus, Atrato, Belltown, Ingenious and Spring Park Capital.

Advising on the project financing, acquisition finance and re-financing of wind farms and portfolios of wind farms, including Gravis Capital Partners (on the acquisition, and subsequent £85m financing of a 95MW portfolio of four operating wind farms in England and Northern Ireland) National Australia Bank Limited and Santander UK plc (on the £86 million refinancing of a portfolio of onshore wind assets owned by Banks Renewables) Infinergy (as project sponsor on the project financing of a number of wind farms including Wear Point, Castle Pill, Ferndale and Mean Moor) Temporis, UK Green Investment Bank and KKR (as lenders to Blue Energy on the 52 MW Blackcraig wind farm in Scotland and to the Srondoire wind farm in Scotland) and Royal Bank of Scotland (on the project financing of a 30 MW wind farm in Berwickshire, Scotland).

Advising on the project financing of energy from waste projects for lenders including advising Ancala Bioenergy Limited (on the £52m refinancing of a portfolio of 14 AD plants and six composting sites) Investec Bank (including TEG Dagenham Anaerobic Digestion), Gravis (including the refinancing of the Agrivert AD portfolio and the financing of the Wastebeater recycling plant) M&G Investments (SELCHP), and London Waste and Recycling Board (including TEG Dagenham and Biossence).

Advising on the project financing of biomass plants including Helius/CoRDe, Mersey Bioenergy, Evermore CHP, Beckton Biogas and Volac.

Advising Alt HAN Co on its smart metering programme.

Advising clients including FirstGroup, Amber Infrastructure, and Gravis on loan facilities funding the purchase of electric vehicles and vehicle batteries.

Advising the lender on the financing of Solar Catcher’s solar-powered electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Advising Macquarie Bank on the project financing of gas peaking plants.

Advising Albion Capital on their £57m financing of a portfolio of separate UK-based renewable energy projects (consisting of a mixture of approximately 30 separate wind, hydro, and solar projects across England and Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland) with Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Advising the Obligors in connection with the £398m PFI financing of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and the £214m PFI financing of the Pinderfields General Hospital and Pontefract General Infirmary in Mid Yorkshire.

Advising KfW-Ipex Bank on participations in syndicated project finance facilities including Greenwich BSF PFI (£103 million) and the Hampshire Street Lighting PFI (£44 million).

Advising the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority on the implementation of complex guarantee structures.

Advising the Ministry of Defence on the £1.34 billion project bond financing of the Skynet 5 military satellite communications PFI project.

Advising the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces on the US$1.2 billion project financing of the YahSat military satellite project.

Advising Ascent (a Babcock/Lockheed Martin joint venture) on the project financed £1.2 billion fixed wing package of the UK Military Flying Training System PFI project.