DLA Piper signs solar power contract

DLA Piper signs solar power contract

Including 15 European and UK offices, the new solar farm will be a source of renewable energy

Taking part in the establishment of a UK solar farm, DLA Piper has signed a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) with NextEnergy Group - owners of UK solar investment and asset managers NextEnergy Capital - which the firm claims have made it the first law firm in the world to do so.

This agreement provides renewable energy from the new solar farm to 15 DLA Piper offices participating in the project in Europe and the UK.

A new energy farm set to be built in Somerset is expected to generate electricity that is equal to or in excess of DLA Piper's direct power requirements, the company said on Thursday, adding that the extra credits will be assigned to the company's value chain as greenhouse gas emissions for its indirect emissions will be lessened.

London-based firm described the deal as a 'major milestone' in its ongoing decarbonization drive and describes the agreement as a critical step towards achieving its 2030 goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions.

Natasha Luther-Jones, international head of sustainability and ESG at DLA Piper and global co-chair of the firm's energy and natural resources group, said the firm is the first law firm to enter into a corporate PPA. "This project represents our ambition to be one of the most impactful business law firms for sustainability," she said.

Since it's founding over a decade ago, the firm has advised on over 1,000 renewable energy deals and projects and it has been gratifying to apply the decarbonisation skills that have been gained during this time to our own cases, she explained.

According to her firm profile, Luther-Jones leads DLA Piper's corporate end-user PPA in 2018 practice and acted on AB InBev's non-subsidy solar deal for the UK that year. She previously advised on a non-subsidy onshore wind farm with a PPA in the UK that was financed by the project's sponsors.

As environmental concerns have grown across a number of sectors, including banking, oil, retail, telecommunications and information technology, PPAs have gained popularity over the last decade. A number of roadblocks to the financing and construction of renewable energy facilities are removed by the agreements, potentially providing utilities and developers with greater certainty.

The corporate PPA market is here to stay, according to Ross Greier, UK managing director of NextEnergy Capital.

I'm delighted to be leading the way in the legal sector with DLA Piper in establishing corporate PPAs as a crucial element of reducing corporate carbon emissions throughout the next decade," he commented.

The Greener Litigation Pledge, a commitment launched by Mishcon de Reya to reduce the impact of litigation on the environment, has been signed by leading UK law firms, including Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, HFW, and Simmons & Simmons in June 2021. Later on, in the summer, Linklaters signed up.

In July 2021, Ashurst disclosed a series of sustainability goals developed by partner Anna-Marie Slot. The goals were built on a roadmap that includes initial carbon reductions by 2023, part of its present carbon neutrality plan.