Gareth Baker

Real Assets

• Advised Eelpower on:
  • strategic joint ventures with SUSI Partners, Next Energy and a top tier Canadian pension fund;
  • a range of acquisitions of ready-to-build assets; and
  • various aspects of project development,
  in each case, in the energy storage sector.
• Advised solar and storage developer Exagen Group on an investment of up to £35 million from the Octopus Energy Development Partnership, the maiden investment for Octopus Energy's newly launched £185 million (€220 million) fund for green energy projects.
• Advised renewable energy developer Island Green Power and its shareholders on an agreement to sell a 50% stake in the business to Macquarie Asset Management (making the acquisition via its Macquarie Green Investment Group Renewable Energy Fund 2 (MGREF2)) and a related pipeline asset supply agreement to Macquarie funds.

Cleantech and other sustainable interventions

• Advised Nova Innovation Limited on a £6.4 million investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank to fund the manufacturing and distribution of its subsea tidal turbines.
• Advised Hydrogen One (a listed hydrogen fund) on a series of supply chain investments, including in green hydrogen developer HH2E, Cranfield Aerospace, Bramble, Gen2, HiiRoc and NanoSun.
• Advised specialist alternative asset manager Gresham House in relation to an innovative partnership with Environment Bank Ltd to introduce a first-to-market compliance solution driving biodiversity net gain.

Oil & Gas/biofuels/chemicals

• Helping BP to take overall control of the Nerefco refinery in the Netherlands through a 1 billion euro acquisition of Chevron's Benelux refining and renewables assets and agreeing a long-term offtake supply arrangement with Chevron, linked to the divestment of Chevron's Benelux marketing assets.
• Advising BP in relation to a US$400 million biofuels investment joint venture with Associated British Foods and DuPont to form Vivergo Fuels to construct a new bioethanol plant built at Saltend, Hull.
• Supporting BP in relation to its biofuels innovation programmes through advising on a 50/50 UK consortium with DuPont to build a butanol facility in the UK, as a forerunner to a US butanol commercialisation joint venture (on which he also advised).

Solar

• Helping Primrose Solar to grow from zero to more than 250 MWs of generating capacity by advising on, the acquisition of over 15 solar farm developments, supporting them through construction to commissioning, project financing a number of them and subsequently divesting the whole portfolio to Bluefield, Greencoat Solar and Equitix.
• Advising Innova Energy, RGE Solar and a range of other leading "top tier" developers and investors in the UK solar sector.

Onshore wind

• Advising Infinis, then largest independent renewable energy generator in the UK in relation to various matters, including a £75 million project finance facility with National Australia Bank to construct and operate five onshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 52.5 megawatts.

Capacity Market and Peaking power

• Advising Carron Energy, part of Welsh Power Group, on its disposal of three power response businesses to Alkane Energy PLC for £12 million.
• Advising a range of other leading names on relation to capacity market developments in the UK market.

Infrastructure

• Acting for a Canadian infrastructure fund as part of the successful consortium in relation to a significant investment in UK infrastructure assets.
• Working with a strategic investor in relation to a UK airport transaction.
• Advising the management team on the purchase of Hastings Infrastructure (now Vantage Infrastructure) by Northill.

Nuclear

• Helping AMEC in relation to the largest European procurement programme at the time, by advising in relation to its consortium arrangements with URS Washington Division and Areva to decommission the Sellafield nuclear facility.
• Advising AMEC, Atkins and Rolls Royce in relation to consortium arrangements bidding to decommissioning the Magnox reactors as well as on the terms of the bid.