Experience
Steve has 25+years helping clients deploy & invest in renewable and low carbon energy projects and achieve sustainability and NZ targets | Supporting energy users decarbonise | Special interest in scaling young cleantech businesses | Carbon trading, carbon removals & environmental finance | CCUS | municipal & community energy | complex consenting.
He worked for 6 years as a developer of 'own account' projects to deepen commerciality.
He advises clients on a range of ESG and environmental, health & safety (EHS) and consenting matters in the context of projects and transactions, the management of risks and opportunities, and regulatory and litigation matters.
In renewables, he advises developers and other participants on the development of new facilities totalling several gigawatts of capacity encompassing | solar PV | wind (on and offshore) | energy storage | EV charging | waste (EfW, AD and ACT) | Hydro | District heating and CHP | hydrogen | biofuels | hydro | interconnectors |
| Complex Consenting | Full spectrum of planning and consenting including energy projects, infrastructure, grid, regeneration, technology, mixed use (residential & commercial led), hotel, leisure, warehousing and industrial, mines and minerals, waste and water. Including DCO and TCPA.
| Brownfields | Particular experience managing risk at the intersection of brownfield sites where high sustainability, renewable energy solutions maximise ESG returns and value.
| Transactions | Managing risk and seizing opportunities on transactions. Wide range of M&A, equity capital markets, supporting cleantech ventures to raise finance to grow their businesses, buying, developing and selling generation assets, negotiating environmental insurance policies and complex indemnities. Project finance. Setting up ESG funds (incorporating ESG guidelines).
| Innovator in Community & Municipal Energy | Steve has advised on scores of community led/owned projects with significant social value. He founded and chaired Pure Leapfrog an award winning social financier which raised over £30m to support large scale deployment of community renewables, including several commercial projects where community participation has substantially derisked planning. He has worked alongside the major developers in the community energy sector and for many specific community based project companies.
| Innovations for the legal market | Including: (i) founding Leapfrog to support (with skills and finance), delivery of exemplars for community energy sector; (ii) developing a unique environmental insurance /corporate structure to insure high risk sites undergoing transactions; (iii) developing a contamination risk buy-out solution (with a major environmental consultancy); (iv) developing a unique RO accreditation protocol to derisk the relocation of RO generators providing regulatory assurance to Ofgem; (v) devising unique methods to accredit large scale PV assets (in the RO) prior to grid connection, and to up-scale them over the 50MW threshold (whilst remaining bankable); and (vi) the delivery of a "legal services in a box" product "Cleantech Curve" to support cleantech startups and spin-outs; and (vii) "Portfolio Renewables" to support energy consumers decarbonise their portfolio of operations using a blend of technologies (with a major environmental consultancy).
| Markets | Steve has advised on projects and transactions with issues arising in all the home nations and throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia South America, and the Caribbean, including Korea, Brazil, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa.
| Clients | Span developers, utilities, heavy energy users, public sector (main departments and local authorities), 3rd sector and social enterprises.
Steven is the Winner of two “standout” ranking in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards, and two “Law Firm of the Year” awards for sustainability innovations. Attorney General Pro Bono Champion, as well as being named in Lawyer Magazine “Hot 100” for climate change legal innovation.
Testimonials
- “…receives boundless praise … [clients] underscore his exceptional intelligence, availability, pragmatism and ability to communicate complicated business and legal concepts in layman's terms. Chambers Global - Climate Change.
- Client feedback in Chambers/Legal 500: “creative, with good technical skills and an objective viewpoint”, “very commercial and gets the deal done” "thoroughly organised and well-connected”, “excellent”, “brimming with energy”, “clear cut endorsement”, “a balanced perspective so that he can see the key issues.
- MD at German state owned utility developing assets in UK : “Basically, there were three important factors in our decision to instruct you (i) the personal recommendation by market leading financial advisors, (ii) your strong reputation and (ii) long- term expertise in the field of renewables. We’re 100% satisfied with quality and delivery. Your team is always on time and the advice and expertise fit our needs perfectly. It really was astonishing to see the great commitment of your team. Whenever we urgently needed a response, we got one. Especially when we had to face difficulties and quick decisions had to be made, we felt confident and well-advised. We definitely expanded our network through our collaboration. Especially in our solar projects with the immense pressure regarding the deadlines and multiple changes we always managed to get required feedback and advise.. "
- GC of global chemical business after advising on decarbonisation projects: “Many thanks to you for your support, for your ideas and proposals to find ways out of the traps. I really and fully appreciate your input in this complicated transaction. There is a lot to achieve but with you on board I am sure will do it”
- GC of US renewables developer running UK operation: “[T]he management of the team and use of resources was very impressive. At one point Steve and his team were handling 21 different urgent and important ramifications of the deal, reporting timely on each of them individually. It all went flawless in terms of both the actual work and the communication with all team members involved in the project ... As first time investors in the UK we were also seeking pragmatic commercial acumen and not just legal advice. Steve’s networking reach proved to be crucial with introductions to other market participants, authorities, advisors... This was greatly appreciated. We strongly believe that not only has Steve delivered to match our expectations, but he has actually exceeded them“”
Memberships
- Law Society of England and Wales
- City of London Law Society Environmental Section
- UK Environmental Law Association
- Legal Sustainability Alliance
- IBA Environmental Section