Energy and Renewables

1. OUR SUPPORT INCLUDES, AMONG OTHERS:

• Advising on acquiring rights to real estate and obtaining required administrative permits (e.g. environmental permits, zoning decisions, building permits) for energy infrastructure investments, including in particular renewables and energy storage projects;
• Conducting legal and tax due diligence checks regarding acquiring, or financing the acquisition of, and performing renewables projects;
• Drafting and assisting with concluding and performing agreements for providing and using renewable energy sources, including EPCs, BoP agreements, equipment supply agreements, O&M agreements;
• Advising on support systems, including auction processes in the renewables sector;
• Advising on regulatory issues, including among others concession and tariff aspects and energy companies’ reporting and disclosure obligations;
• Advising and representing clients in proceedings before the President of the Polish Energy Regulatory Office, including disputes and appeal proceedings before the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection;
• Drafting and assisting with concluding and performing agreements commonly used in the energy sector, including purchase, transmission, distribution, comprehensive grid connection agreements and agreements for energy recipients, including PPAs and cPPAs;
• Advising on taking measures limiting an increase in energy, heat and gas prices, including adjustment of price caps, right to compensation for using price caps, Price Difference Payment Fund write-offs.

2. SELECTED PROJECTS:

Renewable energy

Contract advice

• Advising an institution financing an RES producer on the provisions and parties’ rights and obligations under a power purchase agreement (vPPA) negotiated and concluded for more than 14 years between an RES producer and an end user (nationwide retail chain);
• Advising an institution financing an RES producer on the provisions and parties’ rights and obligations under a power purchase agreement (vPPA) negotiated and concluded for more than 12 years between an RES producer and an end user (food sector);
• Advising an institution financing an RES producer on the provisions and parties’ rights and obligations under a power purchase agreement (vPPA) regarding energy produced from a PV power plant portfolio, negotiated and concluded for more than 11 years between an RES producer and an end user (industrial sector); according to press releases this was one of the largest vPPAs concluded in Poland in 2022;
• Advising on negotiating EPCs for the construction of PV power plants and establishing related performance bonds;
• Advising on negotiating an agreement for supply of container transformer stations with a capacity of over 1 MW for the construction of a PV power plant;
• Advising on negotiating O&M agreements for PV power plants;
• Advising on securing titles to real estate intended for RES installations, including negotiating and amending long-term lease agreements.

Legal due diligence

• Conducting legal due diligence for an institution providing refinancing to RES companies for the construction of two portfolios of PV power plants with a total capacity of over 170 MW;
• Conducting legal due diligence for a fund regarding an investment agreement for financing the construction of a portfolio of PV power plants with a capacity of 66 MW by RES investors;
• Conducting legal due diligence for an institution financing the construction of a portfolio of PV power plants with a capacity of over 80 MW;
• Conducting legal due diligence for an institution financing the construction of a portfolio of PV power plants with a capacity of over 70 MW;
• Conducting legal due diligence for an investor regarding the acquisition of PV projects with a total capacity of 80 MW;
• Conducting legal due diligence for an investor regarding a portfolio of wind energy projects with a total capacity of around 101 MW;
• Conducting legal due diligence to an investor regarding the acquisition of PV projects with a total capacity of over 800 MW at various stages of the development.

Other projects

• Advising on regulatory issues regarding RES producers’ rights and obligations in the context of the obligation to record Difference Payment Fund write-offs, including PV installations participating in the auction system;
• Advising on regulatory issues, in particular in the field of renewables, including obtaining grid connection decisions for PV power plants, negotiating and concluding grid connection agreements and handling related proceedings before the President of the Polish Energy Regulatory Office;
• Advising on regulatory issues regarding rights and obligations of RES producers participating in the auction system, including proceedings before the President of the Polish Energy Regulatory Office and sanctions for breaching obligations arising from the participation in the support system;
• Advising a leading Polish energy company on preparing and selecting a foreign company for performing a project involving offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.

Energy infrastructure

• Advising an investor on the EPC performance of an investment project involving the construction of a power plant with a 600 MWe gas-steam unit; project value: over PLN 1.6 billion;
• Advising a Lithuanian operator of a transmission system regarding a cooperation agreement with a Polish operator of a transmission system in connection with the construction of an HVDC submarine cable Harmony Link; value of the Harmony Link project: around EUR 680 million;
• Advising an investor on preparing and handling proceedings leading to the conclusion of more than 20 construction contracts for modernising and expanding a district heating network in Poznań;
• Advising an investor on an EPC project involving the construction of a 400/110 kV power station Ełk Bis;
• Advising a winning contractor in a utilities-sector tender for the supply and 10-year maintenance of a set (10) of compressor units for three gas compressor stations (Goleniów, Gustorzyn and Odolanów) within the Baltic Pipe program; project value: around PLN 550 million;
• Advising an investor on amending a contract for the construction of power units no. 5 and 6 at the Opole Power Plant; value of the entire project: around PLN 11.5 billion;
• Advising a contractor from a consortium on amending an EPC for the construction of a new 1075 MW supercritical parameter unit at the Kozienice Power Plant; value of the entire project: around PLN 5.1 billion;
• Advising a general contractor modernising a boiler furnace system in units 7—12 at the PGE Bełchatów Power Plant; contracting entity: PGE GiEK; project value: over EUR 475 million (over PLN 1.9 billion);
• Advising a consortium of Polish and foreign companies on the EPC modernisation of units 4—6 at the Turów Power Plant; contracting entity: PGE GiEK; project value: over PLN 625 million;
• Advising a general contractor modernising a fluid boiler exhaust system at the Żerań Heat Power Plant; project value: over PLN 60 million;
• Advising a main designer of a new power unit at the Jaworzno III Power Plant on negotiating and performing a contract with a general contractor (SPV RAFAKO); contracting entity: Tauron Wytwarzanie S.A;
• Advising a contracting entity on performing an EPC for design, delivery and “turnkey” construction of a metathesis installation in a production plant in Płock;
• Advising a contracting entity on preparing a project involving the construction of an installation for polypropylene production along with supporting installations and additional infrastructure;
• Advising a contractor competing for a utilities-sector contract for the construction of a 450 MW unit at the Turów Power Plant; project value: around PLN 1 billion;
• Advising an investor on preparing and selecting a contractor regarding the construction and the functioning of the Gdańsk Oil Terminal – project of strategic importance for the development of the Polish economy and energy security; value of the I stage: around PLN 800 million;
• Advising a winning consortium in a utilities-sector tender for the construction of a 910 MW power unit at the Jaworzno III Power Plant; project value: around PLN 5.4 billion;
• Advising a winning consortium in a utilities-sector tender for the construction of two power units (5 and 6) at the Opole Power Plant with an installed capacity of 1800 MW; project value: around PLN 11.5 billion.