Jaguar Land Rover is the latest to announce a series of renewable energy projects for its business and we have seen a big resurgence in these types of project over the last 5 years for a number of reasons, but most recently energy price stability and grid resilience.  Many of these projects are solar and the last 2 years in particular, have seen a rise in major rooftop solar projects.

It is interesting that our renewables practice is often now approached by corporates who are increasingly instigating renewable energy developments, rather than the renewable companies themselves.   At the outset of these projects there is more of a meaningful debate on whether the corporate should take the developer role or is still going to adopt the more tried and tested route, of partnering or appointing a developer/supplier to build and run the generation project.      

We are used to discussing the pros and cons of the various approaches.  Private wire projects are on the increase and can work really well, but each one has to be considered and some of the absolutely key areas we look to surface early for our clients to decide on the structuring include;

• what happens if the corporate needs to move site or downsize?
• will there be surplus power and what will happen to it (with a key issue being electricity supply licence exemptions
• who builds what infrastructure and how does that work with the operational needs and concerns of the corporate which can vary from site to site