Legal advice
As part of our focus on the field of renewable energies and energy efficiency, we advise on all related legal issues. We can draw on experience from more than 25 years of consulting in this context. With our pragmatic solution approach, we enable project developers, investors, public utilities and municipalities to cope with problems that arise and to implement their projects and initiatives in a legally secure manner. Our work also includes enforcing the interests of our clients in court if no amicable agreement can be reached.
Public law
Public law is of central importance for renewable energy projects. Complex issues are dealt with such as nature conservation and planning law in approval procedures that often take many years. Even after receiving approval, compensatory measures or plant changes must be agreed with authorities. Here we support you in dealing with the authorities and, for example, in preparing species protection reports to be able to complete the procedures quickly and successfully. For municipalities, the management of energy transition projects on their municipal territory, the promotion of climate-friendly construction and sustainable mobility are extremely relevant. We know the needs of municipalities and reconcile them with the possibilities offered by planning, municipal, public procurement and state aid law.
Our services
- Support of building and immission control approval procedures, in particular for the construction and operation of wind energy and photovoltaic systems
- Advice on preliminary ruling and modification procedures as well as subsequent orders
- Support in coordination with the approval authority, other specialist authorities and the municipality
- Representation in court proceedings
- Clarification of the mandate for environmental verifiers and monitoring of faunistic surveys
- Examination of the environmental assessments (Species Protection Law, Habitats Directive (FFH), EIA, landscape conservation accompanying plan) and development of coordinated, sustainable solutions for prevention and compensation measures
- Advice on issues of immission control, water and forest law
- Examination of landscape analyses, elaboration of exemption applications from landscape protection regulations and support in the zoning of landscape protection areas
- Assistance in coordinating with the nature conservation authority, participation in the scoping and discussion meeting as well as legal representation in court proceedings
- Support in preparing and modifying development and land use plans, in particular for wind, heat and photovoltaic projects and for climate-friendly areas
- Development of urban development contracts
- Support of regional plan changes and target deviation procedures
- Advice on building regulation issues
- Advising on establishing, developing and operating municipal companies
- Support of intercommunal mergers and agreements
- Advice on the construction and operation of public facilities (including choice or change of organisational form, fees or charges, connection and use constraints, privatization), in particular in the field of heat and water supply, possible protection by connection and use constraints, planning regulations, funding opportunities, advice on construction and operation; support of a possible procurement procedure; answering ongoing questions about lease and heat supply contracts
- Draft statutes, meeting proposals and contracts
- Examination of tendering obligations
- Development of procedural concepts
- Implementation of procurement procedures including bidder questions and complaint management as well as representation in review procedures
- Design of tender-free "in-house" constellations, municipal cooperation and functional assignment of tasks
- Presentation of subsidy law possibilities
- Support of municipalities and the management of municipal companies to detect breaches of state aid law and to prevent both recovery and personal liability risks
- Creation of acts of entrustment
Public law in France
Public law issues play a central role in renewable energy projects; the procedures to be followed to obtain the permits required for the implementation of the projects are often complex and lengthy. We accompany our clients on these extremely technical issues at every stage of the development of renewable energy projects, including project changes up to the construction and operation of the plant if necessary.
We also support all companies active in the field of renewable energies in dealing with questions of construction planning and municipal law. Furthermore, we represent project developers in administrative court proceedings due to non-issuance or third-party challenges to approvals.
Our services
- Advice and legal representation before the administrative courts on both the plaintiff's and defendant's sides
- Expert assessment of the environmental aspects of renewable energy projects
- Legal advice and support in the submission of applications for approval as well as over the entire lifetime of a renewable energy system (representation to approval and supervisory authorities, monitoring of changes to renewable energy projects)
- Examination of the feasibility of projects on the basis of the development and land use plans
Renewable energy sources act
Energy law issues play a major role in the implementation of renewable energy projects. The Energy Industry Act itself is characterised by a high regulatory density and a multitude of interfaces to other areas of law, such as Subsidy, Tax and European law. Due to our many years of experience and our basic technical understanding, we can resolve this complexity for our clients and find both pragmatic and economic solutions.
Our services
- Support for participation in the award procedure of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA)
- Development of concepts for energy-related projects
- Grid connection contracts
- Contractual design of shared network interconnection points
- Electricity and gas supply contracts, including PPAs for renewable electric energy
- Design of tenant electricity models
- Contractual implementation of self-supply models as well as those with direct deliveries, including underlying measurement concepts
- Examination and design of possibilities of tax exemption and tax relief
- Assistance in external audits, appeals and legal proceedings
- Assistance in defending against late payments
Transaction consulting
As experts in the field of renewable energies, we have supported transactions of projects of more than 6 billion euros, mainly in the field of wind energy. These many years of experience and our well-founded legal expertise enables us to efficiently and accurately assess all legal risks and design transactions in a legally secure, pragmatic manner – both on the seller's side and on the investor's side. We also support the takeover of small and medium-sized companies by competitors in the field of renewable energies.
Our services
Corporate structuring
The implementation of renewable energy projects increasingly requires the cooperation of various stakeholders, for example, operators of neighbouring projects, project developers with municipalities or municipal utilities, property owners with project developers or investors with project developers. We know the needs of the various parties involved and balance their interests. Especially in the case of cooperation involving municipalities, we can assume a "conversion function" here. We convert the agreement reached into an appropriate contractual arrangement.
Our services
- Cooperation agreements
- Joint venture agreements
- Implementation of conversion measures
- Establishment of infrastructure companies
- Company formation
- Articles of association
- Shareholder resolutions
Civil contract law and Real Estate Law
Securing property is a central component of project implementation. There is considerable competitive pressure here, because suitable areas are scarce. It is therefore of central importance for project developers to be able to secure areas as effectively and legally secure as possible. This is possible if the land use contract is easy to understand on the one hand and later meets the requirements of financing banks or investors on the other hand. We help to master this balancing act well with our model contracts and our experience,. In addition, we create and negotiate all necessary project contracts. And we do this not only for wind and PV projects, but also for hydrogen and heat projects.
Our Services
- Project development contracts
- General contractor contracts
- System supply and maintenance contracts
- Operational management contracts
- Direct marketing and grid connection contracts
- Heat supply and purchase contracts
- Contracts for the procurement and sale of hydrogen
- Direct supply contracts and PPAs
- Creation of model contracts
- Creation of individual land use contracts with special stakeholders or in special constellations
- Negotiation of land use agreements for landowners
- Design of physical security concepts
- Design of concepts for the shared use of infrastructure