Clifford Chance

Energy security and affordability have become a major issue for many countries. Rising inflation, increasingly frequent and significant climate events, and an uncertain geopolitical and economic outlook provide a challenging backdrop for governments committed to net zero targets and keen to accelerate the development of low-carbon energy. We highlight some trends which focus on some of the innovations and legal developments that we are seeing in a number of sectors to meet these challenges.

This briefing looks at 10 trends and developments and what they could mean for the wind industry in the coming year. These trends will play a role in shaping the future of the wind industry in the Netherlands and understanding their impact is essential for industry stakeholders.

In Japan, corporate power purchase agreements (Corporate PPAs) have recently come under the spotlight. Since the introduction of the Japanese feed-in tariff (FIT) regime in 2012, renewable power generators have been relying on attractive, 20-year, fixed price PPAs. Now, as the number of new FIT-based PPAs dwindles while demand for "clean" energy from corporate and industrial power consumers in Japan increases, the market for Corporate PPAs in Japan is expected to expand rapidly. Despite its potential, this market is still in its infancy, however. In this briefing we outline the unique aspects of the Japanese Corporate PPAs market from a regulatory perspective and draw some comparisons based on our experience with the development of the Corporate PPAs market in other jurisdictions.

The briefing provides a high-level overview of notable provisions relating to the introduction of new renewable energy, hydrogen, and "zero emissions" tax credits, and the extension and modification of certain existing renewable energy, CCUS, and other tax credits to support and facilitate the energy transition in the United States. 

Dr. Florian Mahler discusses the utopian concept of Floating Offshore Wind.

Alex Leff considers tax credits in the renewables space.

As the UK strives towards its ambitious target of 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, large-scale investment will be required in the offshore wind industry. It is increasingly clear that point-to-point connections between offshore wind farms and the grid will not be efficient for an expansion of this magnitude.

While Northern Europe and the UK started investing in offshore wind more than 20 years ago, France was slow off the mark. Now, that is about to change, as the development of the first French projects gets under way.

In March 2022, in response to the unprecedented energy price crisis, the European Commission presented REPowerEU, a new set of proposed measures to create an affordable, secure, resilient and sustainable EU energy market, including a State aid Temporary Crisis Framework to support affected companies.