Eversheds and Norton Rose lead on £100bn wind farm project

Norton Rose - one of two firms, along with Hunton & Williams, selected for the landowner’s energy panel - acted for the Crown Estate on the award of nine contracts in round three of the UK’s wind farm programme. In total, they will deliver 25,000MW of power by 2020.

The Norton Rose team that worked on the deal since the contracts first went to tender in March 2008 was jointly led by London energy partners Nicholas Pincott and John Wood and real estate partner Raj Mangat.

“We’re very proud to have been at the centre of this ground-breaking transaction, which is unique in the world and puts the UK at the very forefront of offshore renewable energy,” said Wood. “The level of investment will be immense and will transform wind energy from its current, relatively modest position, into being a major part of the UK’s energy mix.”

Eversheds, meanwhile, won the mandate to advise three of the nine winning consortia. Energy partner Michelle Thomas and mining partner Chris Halliday led a team acting for Forewind Consortium which won the largest of the nine contracts, at Dogger Bank. It also advised RWE Npower Renewables on its Bristol Channel development and Eneco, the successful bidder on the West Isle of Wight project.

DLA Piper’s head of energy Neil Upton advised a joint venture between EDP Renovaveis and SeaEnergy Renewables on the contract based at Moray Firth.

The Offshore Norfolk contract was awarded to a joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall Wind Power, with a McGrigors team led by energy partner Euan McVivar winning the advisory mandate.

Corporate finance partner Stephen Gibb led a Shepherd and Wedderburn team advising the winning bidder for the Hornsea project: Smart Wind Limited.

Centrica Renewable Energy and RES won the Irish Sea contract, with advice coming from Bond Pearce courtesy of project finance partner Charles Robson.

Seagreen Wind Energy - the developer of the Firth of Forth wind farm - and E.ON Climate & Renewables, which won the Hastings deal, were both advised in-house.