International law firm Gowling WLG has advised Brockwell Energy on its sale of the 45MW Dalquhandy onshore wind farm development to global renewable energy developer, service provider and distributor BayWa. This is one of the earliest subsidy-free/merchant wind development deals to come to the UK market.
The project, which will be located in Coalburn in South Lanarkshire, will be built on a brownfield former coal-mining site. The deal follows an extensive re-design of the project by Brockwell Energy to increase tip-heights and will significantly benefit the local community over the next 25 years through improved site access and delivering enough power for 34,000 homes.
Brockwell is currently developing further sites in Scotland, including the 230MW North Kyle wind farm in East Ayrshire and the 45MW Broken Cross wind farm in South Lanarkshire.
Speaking about the deal, Brockwell Energy CFO Iain Cockburn said "The successful development and sale of Dalquhandy demonstrates the quality and depth of our project development team. This was a significant transaction for Brockwell and excellent legal advice and support from the Gowling WLG team helped to ensure an efficient and orderly transaction."
The Gowling WLG team was led by partner Gareth Baker, working with associate Fabiano Iesini and trainee Ben Parker. Gareth Baker said: "We're pleased to have worked with Brockwell Energy team again and look forward to supporting the many exciting prospects they have in the project development pipeline."
The transaction caps a standout year for the firm's energy team, which saw them work on several mandates including advising Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust on its IPO, which raised £350 million, advising Svea Renewable Solar AB on the acquisition of Solarcentury's European residential solar installation business and advising Co-op Energy on its new strategic partnership with Octopus Energy. It also follows the team's recognition for its leading energy and renewables practice in The Times Best Law Firms 2020.
Gowling WLG was supported on Scottish Law aspects by Burness Paull.