February Edition 2021

12 “The UK is the second most attractive region for renewables investment, after North America. Investment in wind and solar power is expected to show the biggest increase, as costs have declined significantly in recent years,” points ou t Natasha Luther-Jones, p artner and Global Co-Chair of Energy and Natural Resources at DLA Piper. “Private money will be crucial in ensuring the government’s energy ambitions aremet,” he adds. “It is expected that around £42 billion of private sector funds will be invested in UK renewables by 2030, including £20 billion in offshore wind, £4 billion in hydrogen, £3 billion in electric vehicles and £11 billion in carbon capture. “Many also anticipate that the coronavirus pandemic will accelerate the shift towards renewable investment, with the top investment area to remain wind power,” Turgel adds. InQ3 2020, according to theUKGovernment, renewable energy accounted for 40% of electricity generation, with wind at around 20% and solar PV at 5.6%. The most high-profile recent UK investment was a GBP 5.5bn debt financing to build the 2.4 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea, the world’s largest offshore wind project financing to date. In recent years, Scotland has played a significant role. Luther-Jones referenced DLA’s advice to Greencoat on its acquisition of the 235MWSouth Kyle non- subsidy Scottish wind farm fromVattenfall and counsel to Greencoat Capital - the first renewables fund to be listed on the LSE - on the acquisition of two non-subsidy Scottish wind farms in Dumfries & Galloway. If renewable energy recently accounted for 40% of the UK’s share, in Germany, renewable energy sources generated almost 50% of Germany’s electricity in 2020. In the first 9 months of 2020, wind was the clear winner generating over a quarter of the country’s power.Wind energy accounted for nearly 27% of the total, followed by brown coal (15% of the total), and solar PV with 13%. France recently submitted its final national energy and climate plan (NECP) 2030 to the European Commission. The country will target 33% of renewable energy in its energy mix in 2030, and in Q2 2020, renewable energy covered almost 1/3 of French energy consumption, according to a report by the French renewable energy association SER. UK is the 2nd most attractive region for renewables after North America Germany at almost 50% in 2020 and France to set 33% renewable energy target by 2030