A specialist in energy regulation and commercial contracts, Susan acts for clients in regulated sectors, including electricity and water. She is a core partner in our Clean Energy group.
Susan supports our Clean Energy clients by drafting and negotiating a wide variety of commercial contracts, including consultancy agreements, contracts for offshore environmental and geo-science surveys, development services agreements, traditional and private wire power purchase agreements, operation and maintenance agreements, crossing and proximity agreements and aviation mitigation agreements in respect of civil and defence radar impacts.
She also provides specialist grid advice, helping clients overcome issues surrounding grid access, advising on grid code and other technical compliance issues, and providing strategic advice on bespoke grid sharing arrangements and connection reforms.
Susan also advises on regulatory matters that affect developers of both mature and emerging technologies. This includes advising on the offshore transmission (OFTO) regime, the licensing regime under the Electricity Act 1989, and financial support mechanism including the Contract for Difference, Capacity Market and legacy Renewables Obligation and Feed in Tariff schemes. She also advises on the emerging regulatory landscape for new technologies, including hydrogen, heat networks and electric vehicles, and new coordination models like offshore hybrid assets and multi-purpose interconnectors.
During her career to date Susan has worked in-house with several renewables organisations, including three years with SMart Wind Limited on the development of the Hornsea Zone; eight months with EDF Renewables on the development of the Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind project; and eleven months with Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.
- Advising developers of onshore and offshore renewable projects (including offshore wind projects from the Scottish Territorial Waters, Round 3, Round 4, ScotWind, INTOG and Celtic Sea leasing rounds) on a range of grid-related matters, including the introduction of User Commitment, Queue Management and Connections Reform, the Offshore Transmission Network Review (OTNR) and the Holistic Network Design process.
- Advising the developer of a radial interconnector on the possibility of converting this into a multi-purpose interconnector (MPI) by partnering with an offshore wind developer in GB waters. This included providing advice on the regulatory treatment of MPIs in the UK, the options for re-purposing existing grid agreements to facilitate this coordination and the impact of the OTNR on the proposed MPI.
- Advising the developers of the Outer Dowsing offshore windfarm on their grid connection agreements, providing regulatory advice on the Offshore Transmission (OFTO) regime and the Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme, and leading our commercial support to the project.
- Advising EDF Renewables on the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project, which included advising on grid, the OFTO regime and the CfD scheme (including helping the project complete their eligibility application and satisfy their Milestone Requirement), and negotiating a variety of contracts including aviation mitigation, offshore survey and crossing agreements.
- Advising several developers on the CfD scheme, including on how a project’s CfD strategy impacts their Design Envelope and whether a project meets the eligibility criteria, reviewing eligibility applications, and helping clients demonstrate satisfaction of a Milestone Requirement and make force majeure and grid delay relief claims.
- Advising on the licensing regime under the Electricity Act, including on applications, exemptions and ongoing compliance.
- Negotiating an Operation and Maintenance Agreement in respect of an operational offshore wind farm.
- Negotiating Radar Mitigation Scheme Agreements with the Ministry of Defence on behalf of several offshore wind developers in respect of air traffic control and air defence impacts.
- Negotiating coexistence agreements for several offshore wind developers where their project has been granted rights over an area of seabed where overlapping rights have also been granted to O&G and CCUS interests.
- Negotiating private wire and traditional Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for clients including BayWa, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Green Highland Renewables.
- Negotiating development services and joint development agreements for clients including Inpex, Cierco, EDPR and Four Zeros.
- Negotiating offshore and onshore crossing and proximity agreements for clients including EDF Renewables, Orsted and Scottish Water.
- Producing a term sheet and a template take or pay Hydrogen Purchase Agreement (HPA) for the developer of a green hydrogen project, which included incorporating requirements from the project’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund grant agreement.
- Advising City of Edinburgh Council and Aberdeen University on heat supply agreements in respect of the connection of a new housing development being built by the Council and a building forming part of the University’s estate to local district heat networks.
Susan has invaluable experience of working in-house with offshore wind developers during the pre-consent and post-consent phases of their projects. This included three years with SMart Wind Limited working on the 4GW Hornsea Zone and six months with EDF Renewables working on the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm. Susan had also spent time in-house with Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and her other clients include Ocean Winds, Mainstream Renewable Power, Vattenfall and Orsted.
