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James Phillips

Partner

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About

James heads the firm’s Energy and Utilities sector group, and has over two decades of experience advising clients on energy and environmental regulation.

He specialises in the regulation of the energy sector and advises on grid connection and route to market arrangements. He has played a key role in the development, acquisition and financing of many GWs of clean power and heat projects in the UK. He regularly leads teams carrying out due diligence on portfolios of energy projects for sponsors, investors and funders.

James has been at the forefront of putting in place new and innovative contractual arrangements to facilitate the development of new technologies as they have emerged, as well as helping established technologies to capitalise on opportunities created by a rapidly-evolving energy market.

He acts for developers, investors, utilities and government across the full range of technologies including solar, onshore and offshore wind, peaking projects, battery storage, hydrogen, EVs, carbon capture and biomass, hydro, anaerobic digestion and biofuels. James is also advising clients on the development of energy networks and innovative power trading arrangements.

James is qualified to practise law in England, Wales and Scotland and has played an active role in various industry group including for Scottish Renewables in their markets group and for Offshore Energies UK in the context of offshore decommissioning.

He was recognised in Who’s Who Legal: Energy 2024 for his work in the energy sector and is a regular speaker and commentator on energy matters.

Experience

  • Morgan and Mona offshore wind projects: Advising on the grid connection arrangements and commercial co-operation and collaboration agreements required to deliver these key round four offshore wind projects for EnBW and bp.
  • Ryze: Advising on its hydrogen offtake and supply arrangements for the proposed hydrogen production facility in Bradford being developed by Hygen and N-Gen, including negotiating aspects of the project’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Agreement with DESNZ.
  • Atlantic Green: Advising on the grid connection arrangements, route to market agreements and wider regulatory matters relating to the development and project financing of its 60MWh Buxton and 624MWh Cellarhead battery storage projects.
  • Acorn Bioenergy: Advising on the commercial contracts and renewable heat incentive requirements relating to the development of a portfolio of anaerobic digestion projects, following a successful judicial review of Ofgem’s RHI accreditation decisions.
  • Octopus: Advising Octopus, since 2013, on the acquisition, development and financing of several gigawatts of wind, AD, solar, storage, biomass and peaking projects, including advising on PPAs, grid connection, feedstock and accreditation matters.
  • Wind 2 and Solar 2: Advising on the joint development arrangements with EDPR, Octopus and Canadian Solar, relating to the development and delivery of several portfolios of UK wind and solar projects.

Credentials

  • Admitted as a solicitor: England & Wales (2003), Scotland (2016)

Areas of expertise

Sector focus

Office

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