Clean Energy Pipeline today launches its Clean Energy Legal League Tables 2021 report in association with independent UK law firm Burges Salmon, ranking the top 20 law firms that provided legal advice on clean energy project finance and M&A deals in 2020.
As well as its annual rankings, the report reflects on the continued high volumes of work associated with clean energy projects throughout last year despite the global Coronavirus pandemic, with detailed analysis of global renewable energy investment and a particular focus on solar photovoltaic power projects which proved the most attractive to investors in 2020.
Burges Salmon partner Ross Fairley, who chairs the firm’s Net Zero cross-sector initiative, provides the foreword to the report, in which he highlights that clean energy deployment is set to accelerate in 2021 as a major pillar of the net zero agenda, both in the UK and internationally, recognising the need for flexibility and resilience from legal teams in order to support clients with more holistic advice.
Ross says: “Energy lawyers have had to get to grips with the fact that clients now need their energy advice to take account of what other sectors are having to do in order to meet net zero targets, and the interactions between them.”
Over the last eight years, Burges Salmon has been the second most active law firm in clean energy project finance and M&A deals, according to Clean Energy Pipeline’s annual tables. In 2020, the firm’s project finance lawyers completed 12 project financings in the energy sector worth an aggregate £1.002 billion, placing the firm in the top 15 law firms for clean energy project finance by number of deals. For mergers and acquisitions by deal number, the firm has secured a position in the top 10.
The report also details the notable clean energy deals on which Burges Salmon advised in 2020, including a number of battery storage projects for Gresham House DevCo, the acquisition of Dalquhandy Wind Farm in Scotland by BayWa r.e. UK, EDFI Management Company’s financing of PEG Africa’s social-impact solar home systems and Ripple launching the first wind farm for consumer ownership.
Partner Camilla Usher-Clark, who leads Burges Salmon’s Corporate Energy M&A team, features in the report’s Q&A article, discussing the importance of clean energy to the firm and how it has adapted to the challenges to the sector posed by COVID-19, the technologies to watch over the next few years and future trends.
Camilla says: “We are delighted to have ranked so highly again in this year’s Top 20 Legal Advisers global league table for Clean Energy M&A by number of deals, having supported clients on several high-profile transactions, as well as featuring as one of the most active law firms for clean energy project financing by number of deals.”
You can access Clean Energy Pipeline’s Clean Energy Legal League Tables 2021 report here.