Offshore wind projects involves a large number of contracts that must interact to achieve a successful outcome. The right contracts can help reduce the complexity of the project and provide clarity in case of disputes.
Offshore wind projects involves a large number of contracts that must interact to achieve a successful outcome. The right contracts can help reduce the complexity of the project and provide clarity in case of disputes.
Our team of legal experts have extensive knowledge of the offshore wind industry, and many of them have several years of experience from some of the largest operators in the industry, which enables us to provide commercial legal advice on projects on a global scale. These qualifications combined with our background as the leading legal advisor to the Danish Government makes us uniquely placed to assists clients within this market.
On the basis of our extensive and practical experience from the offshore industry, we assist with strategic advice, negotiations, drafting, and implementation of all types of contracts related to the wind power industry, including:
We have experience with most international standard offshore related contract formats, including in particular the FIDIC Yellow Book, the FIDIC Silver Book, and the FIDIC White Book.
Our experts have been involved in the negotiations for the supply of wind turbines all over the world and are among the most experienced in the offshore industry. Contracts for the supply of wind turbines contain some of the most important performance guarantees and are therefore essential to the overall project. The contract is therefore a key element in any wind turbine project. In order to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), it is important to draft a contract with the proper balance between the legal and commercial aspects, and we are familiar with the crucial elements of such agreements that may impact on that balance.
Contracts for the supply and installation of cables, foundations and transformer stations are equally important. In past years, the foundations market has experienced bankruptcies and bottlenecks of materials, which has significantly affected the construction of many offshore wind turbine projects. It is therefore important to address those risks and others in the best possible way. As Denmark’s leading law firm in the field of insolvency, we are particularly competent to provide advice on how to minimise the risk in case of bankruptcy, as well as the factors to consider before signing such contracts.
A service contract is often sub-divided into long and short contracts. Service contracts provide the legal framework required for maintaining operational wind turbines and contain the vital uptime guarantee. Therefore, the service contract is just as important as the agreement for the actual supply of offshore wind turbines. The service contract covers the long-term cooperation between the service provider and the owner of the offshore wind turbine project, and the contract must therefore cover the interfaces that occur during the term of the contract. Having worked in the offshore industry, our legal experts have a thorough understanding of the interfaces that require special attention in the service contract.
We advise clients on maritime and transport law on an ongoing basis. In particular, we advise on the vessels used for the construction and servicing of offshore wind farms, including jack-up vessels, heavy-lift vessels, cable-laying vessels, transport vessels, crew transfer vessels (CTV), walk-to-work vessels, service operation vessels (SOV), and hotel and accommodation vessels. We have extensive experience in charter parties (BIMCO and charter parties with tailored content).
The work of installing offshore wind turbines and other equipment is carried out either pursuant to a charter party or pursuant to a works contract. It is progressively more common for the installation contract to be a works contract, which requires totally different considerations than those involved in the traditional charter party. Whether or not a charter party or a works contract is used, our legal experts in the field of wind power are ready to help you and have many years of experience in both types of contracts.
As the main advisor to the Danish Government in the field of offshore and wind turbine projects, we have been involved in all parts of the development of Danish offshore wind power. We have thus assisted the Danish Government with refining the tender models for offshore wind power so that Danish offshore wind power in 2022, through the award of the contract for the Thor offshore wind farm, obtained a historically large payment to the Danish State which, in a global context, is leading in the market. We assist the Danish Energy Agency with the preparatory work on tenders and contracts for the coming energy islands in the Baltic and North Seas. The energy islands are the first of their kind in the world and are extremely complex in terms of technical, commercial and legal challenges.
Most offshore wind power projects have struggled in recent years with a “tough” insurance market, where significant limitations on the availability of insurance cover have become increasingly common. The proper coverage of risk requires good partners in the insurance market, early involvement, and a good understanding of how the terms of the contract should be adjusted to the insurance products available. We provide assistance in this respect and have good experience in claims management and preservation of evidence in case of an insurance event.
With an increasing number of developers and projects in the market, the number of disputes in the field of offshore wind power has increased in recent years, further exacerbated by considerable pressure on the entire supplier chain to streamline and reduce costs. As the leading litigator in Denmark, with over 1,500 cases a year, we benefit from a unique experience base, both in terms of the strategic organisation of and the cost-efficient conduct of court and arbitration proceedings on behalf of the wind power industry. In addition, we have extensive experience with disputes in the field of renewable energy and have conducted some of the largest and most complex cases in this area. We contribute to narrowing down the cases and to initially and on an ongoing basis identify the commercial possibilities of a settlement. In international court and arbitration proceedings, we often assist our Danish and international clients as key accounts, where we prepare the strategy and assist with the most significant parts of the cases. In this context, we conduct cases in collaboration with our international partners as co-counsel.
"Poul Schmith’s team within energy is unique in their capabilities and experiences which benefits us as clients. Their experience from advising on the most extensive and innovative energy projects in Denmark and Europe is highly visible in their advice to our company within the energy sector."
Contact our legal experts in the field of offshore wind power to find out how we can assist you in your wind power project.
Partner, Attorney
Partner, Attorney
Partner, Commercial Law Consultant
Attorney, Senior Director
Attorney
Attorney
Attorney, Senior Director
Attorney, Senior Manager, Ph.d.
