Renewable Energy

Holland & Knight's Renewable Energy Team collectively has advised on hundreds of renewable energy projects across the technological spectrum – including solar, wind, alternative fuels, energy storage, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. We have provided legal counsel for clients coast to coast in the United States and throughout Latin America. Our clients include project developers, public utilities, investment funds, component manufacturers, equipment suppliers, tax and private equity investors, financial institutions, public power authorities, project off-takers and industry advocacy groups.

Holland & Knight's Renewable Energy Team is part of our global Energy & Natural Resources Industry Group, which includes more than 225 lawyers and professionals with experience in every area of energy transactions – including financing, regulation, litigation and legislative matters across the United States and Latin America.

Solar Generation

Solar generation is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies in the market today. Our team has been part of emerging and developed markets alike, advising project developers, panel manufacturers, energy storage providers, tax equity investors, financial institutions and host off-takers. Our experience ranges from advising clients on some of the largest utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) and thermal solar projects in the United States and beyond to representing clients in connection with the development of small-scale, behind-the-meter and aggregated community solar projects. We have also advised the solar industry and public financing authorities on solar policy at the state and federal levels, and our attorneys have been at the forefront of developing key regulations and programs in a number of key states.

Our solar energy experience covers a wide variety of issues, including the negotiation of power purchase agreements and innovative project financing structures, obtaining federal and state grants, loans and other incentives, structuring tax equity and securitization arrangements, and securing the federal, state and local regulatory approvals that are necessary to make a project successful.

View more of our solar energy capabilities.

Wind Energy

The opportunity and demand for onshore and offshore wind energy has never been greater. With renewable portfolio mandates, climate change policies and regulations, corporate sustainability initiatives, distributed generation, and the development of new and more cost effective technology, the wind industry is rapidly evolving.

Holland & Knight has been at the forefront of navigating clients through all segments of this industry and stands out as a leading advisor in the offshore wind market. Our team of attorneys and government affairs professionals have been involved in all aspects of offshore wind since its inception in the U.S., and we leverage that knowledge to advance our clients' interests before federal and state legislators and regulators, as well as in complex transactions with investors, suppliers, off-takers and other market participants.

View more of our wind energy capabilities.

Energy Storage

Stakeholders increasingly are recognizing that energy storage is essential to integrate intermittent renewables into the grid. Holland & Knight has been a market leader in energy storage for years, with experience ranging from advising public power authorities on long-term commercial contracting and regulatory matters to representing innovative technology providers and advocating for new public policies at the state, regional transmission organization and federal levels.

Holland & Knight's Renewable Energy Team has broad energy storage experience. We have supported mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions for energy storage projects, and have assisted project developers and other stakeholders on commercial contracting to optimize the value of energy storage. We have advocated policy support for storage from statehouses to Capitol Hill and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and led federal tax policy support for energy storage. Our lawyers and policy professionals have the experience, network and know-how to advance energy storage projects into the future.

Hydrogen and Alternative Fuels

Hydrogen and alternative fuels represent the next era in climate change policy and mitigation measures, as policymakers pursue further ways to reduce carbon emissions beyond the electric generating sector. Holland & Knight attorneys have been at the forefront in advising policymakers and private industry on achieving further carbon reductions through alternative fuel technologies, including renewable natural gas, hydrogen fuel and electric vehicle (EV) transportation initiatives at the state and national levels.

Holland & Knight's Renewable Energy Team has helped clients develop and integrate the use of renewable natural gas into project portfolios, assisted the biomass and biofuel industry in securing incentives and tax credits before the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and advised electric vehicle charging infrastructure developers on project development and regulatory advocacy. As the pace of technological innovation advances, our attorneys thoroughly understand the challenges ahead and alternative energy investments necessary to achieve governmental economy-wide decarbonization targets.

Climate Change and Sustainability

Corporations, nonprofits and governmental entities are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints and execute voluntary sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.

Holland & Knight's Renewable Energy Team has advised a diverse array of municipal governments, state agencies, governmental authorities, hospitals, universities, corporations and institutional investors to develop and implement climate change and sustainability goals. Our attorneys have worked with clients to maximize the use of state and local energy incentives, implement LEED building standards, structure on-site and behind-the-meter renewable energy generation, navigate utility tariff and electric metering structures, pursue holistic energy efficiency and demand reduction strategies, and negotiate renewable energy credit (REC) and virtual power purchase agreements. For clients whose primary business is outside the energy industry, Holland & Knight attorneys know how to provide practical and clear advice to advance organizational sustainability and climate change goals.

View more about our Climate Change, Sustainability and Disclosure Team.

What We Do

Project Development and Project Finance

Holland & Knight Renewable Energy Team attorneys have collectively represented hundreds of clients in the negotiation of power purchase agreements, interconnection agreements, renewable energy credit sales agreements, engineering procurement and construction (EPC) agreements, and operation and maintenance (O&M) agreements for renewable energy investments across the technology spectrum. Collectively, we have helped our clients finance and develop one of the largest solar PV arrays in North America, several of the United States' first proposed offshore wind farms, and geothermal and solar projects in the Caribbean and Latin America.

We have represented investors and developers in all phases of every type of alternative energy project, from large 800-megawatt (MW), utility-scale facilities to small, behind-the-meter facilities of 1 MW or less. Our team applies a broad and multidisciplinary approach by forming collaborative teams of attorneys with the requisite technical, business and regulatory experience for all aspects of renewable project development, including energy, construction, project finance, tax, environmental, regulatory, real property, labor and employment, local government, zoning and intellectual property.

Energy Regulatory and Wholesale Markets

Our Renewable Energy Team has been actively involved for decades in the development of renewable energy regulatory policy at a state and federal level. Out attorneys routinely represent clients before various state and federal energy regulatory agencies, including DOE, FERC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), independent system operators (ISO) and regional transmission organizations (RTO), state public service commissions and the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), as well as before the various land use, environmental and local permitting authorities that are critical to large-scale alternative energy siting. Our attorneys understand the market structures our clients operate in, and stand ready to advance, identify and leverage market opportunities for our renewable energy industry clients.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Our attorneys work collaboratively with Holland & Knight's global litigation team to resolve our clients' disputes around the globe. We have assisted clients with EPC contractor disputes, construction-related matters, and government enforcement actions and inquiries. Our attorneys have pursued regulatory appeals, navigated utility tariff and interconnection disputes and litigated legislative action regarding renewable and alternative energy incentives at the state and federal levels.

Government Advocacy

The renewable energy industry is influenced heavily by public policy, and we are deeply involved in supporting the interests of our renewable energy clients in Washington and in state capitals. Our lawyers and senior policy advisors have deep experience and relationships on Capitol Hill and have helped clients influence federal legislation that affects alternative and renewable energy and investment, including extension of the production tax credit, biodiesel blenders credit and other tax incentives, renewable fuel standard program, DOE loan guarantees, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Comprehensive Legal Support

Holland & Knight's Renewable Energy Team works closely with the firm's related practices to provide clients with multidisciplinary advice on complex energy matters and help them navigate the complex worlds of capital infusion, technology licensure, tax and regulatory issues, and environmental regulations. This includes financing and litigation practices, as well as focused practices on environment, taxation, public policy and regulation, and a comprehensive overall energy practice.

Representative Matters

Solar Energy

• Provided regulatory support for a 32-MW solar PV project, the largest solar project of its kind in the Northeast
• Represented a national project developer in the development of multistate projects, including in the negotiating of power purchase agreements (PPAs), EPC agreements, real property leases and easements, and equipment supply agreements
• Advised a private equity-backed venture on solar PV regulatory strategies in New Jersey and other northeastern states in support of a new business launch, and conducted PPA negotiations for solar project developments undertaken upon launch
• Advised independent power producer on the acquisition of a 20-MW, utility-scale solar PV project in the Mid-Atlantic region
• Represented regional and national entities on commercial and regulatory issues related to the development of community solar programs and consumer residential solar finance programs
• Advised several solar project developers, commercial entities and municipalities in connection with the financing and development of more than 100 MW of solar PV generation projects in New England and throughout the U.S.
• Advised a regional solar project developer on a $75 million equipment sale and leaseback financing for the development and operation of solar PV generation projects
• Represented a large developer of utility-scale solar projects in a joint venture with a large infrastructure bank to jointly pursue the development of projects across the U.S.
• Advised a solar equipment manufacturer in connection with securing a loan guarantee from the DOE for a new manufacturing facility

Wind Energy

• Representing the largest developer of offshore wind projects in the world on regulatory, permitting and commercial issues related to the proposed development of numerous commercial-scale offshore wind generation projects in the U.S.
• Represented Cape Wind Associates LLC on environmental permitting and policy issues associated with the development of the nation's first proposed offshore wind energy generation facility
• Advised Long Island Power Authority on a request for proposal (RFP) and PPA for a 90-MW Deepwater offshore wind project (2017), and proposed development of a 140 MW offshore wind project (2002-2007)
• Advised Oak Creek Energy Systems Inc. in the development, project finance and sale of the first two construction-ready stages of its Tres Mesas wind projects to funds managed by Goldman Sachs and Corporativo GBM (2015 IJGlobal Latin American Wind Deal of the Year)

Energy Storage

• Represented a manufacturing of energy storage systems before FERC and several regional transmission organizations in connection with the development of new rules to allow the integration of energy storage into organized electric markets
• Representing a regional developer on the qualification of energy storage projects for participation in the ISO New England forward capacity auction
• Representing developers on the negotiation of cooperation and equipment supply agreements in connection with the integration of energy storage into solar generation projects

Hydrogen and Alternative Fuels

• Advised a national developer on EPC contracts and equipment procurement contracting for a 100-MW biomass-to-power project in Texas
• Advised a renewable fuels trade organization in regulatory filings and litigation involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) renewable fuel standard rulemakings
• Advised a financial services company in a variety of financing transactions related to the purchase of renewable energy certificates from generation projects, including establishing several funds to facilitate those purchases
• Advised a renewable energy company with respect to a congressional inquiry into DOE's Loan Guarantee Program
• Represented a large distributor of renewable fuels on day-to-day commercial and regulatory issues, including compliance with the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act
• Advised biofuel and biodiesel developers on California utility procurement regulations and California cap-and-trade program

Climate Change and Resiliency

• Advised a financial services company on the purchase of electricity from renewable generation projects and the proposed acquisition or construction of wind and solar generation projects throughout the United States
• Advising a consortium of healthcare institutions in connection with development and implementation of net-zero emission standards at the federal, state and local levels
• Advised commercial, financial institution and healthcare industry clients in the negotiation of physical and virtual PPAs for the purchase of renewable energy from solar and wind generation projects

Geothermal Energy

• Arbitrated construction dispute between a geothermal project development in Nicaragua and an international drilling contractor
• Administered general transactional and project finance counsel for a 72-MW geothermal project in Nicaragua

Latin America

• Provided regulatory and transactional support for a 17-MW solar PV project in Mexico
• Counseled a major energy developer in all legal matters involving the development, financing and sale of an 80-MW solar power project in the Mexican state of Sonora
• Represented a qualified supplier in the financing and development of a 360-MW, combined-cycle power plant in Mexico
• Advised a company on the financing and development of Mexico's second utility-scale solar park with private off-takers
• Counseled on the financing and legal matters related to a 1-gigawatt (GW) wind farm to be developed in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas
• Counseled a global renewable developer in acquiring real estate rights for developing solar plants across Mexico
• Advised private companies and Mexican antitrust agency in a variety of competition law proceedings for renewable projects
• Represented a bilateral agency and a Mexican bank in the $100 million project financing of a wind project in northern Mexico
• Provided assistance to one of the largest generation companies in Colombia in its thermoelectric and hydroelectric power plant projects from a regulatory and environmental perspective