Legal aspects of clean energy projects by RETScreen
By Fernando Nuno / Published on Tue, 2009-06-02 12:471 hour
Dinesh S. Parakh
This webinar presents a general overview of the legal aspects of clean energy projects and introduce the RETScreen Clean Energy Legal Toolkit. The high cost of developing appropriate legal and financial documentation can be a critical barrier to the implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and cogeneration projects. To help overcome this barrier, Natural Resources Canada's CanmetENERGY, in association with the Energy + Environment Foundation (EEF) and with funding from the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), has created the RETScreen Clean Energy Legal Toolkit. This toolkit, available free of charge, includes sample legal documents that can be used as templates, examples, or customized for use in clean energy projects; newly developed finance agreements for use in clean energy projects; an e-Textbook Chapter & training material on the Legal Aspects of Clean Energy Projects; and an online Legal Documentation Forum hosted by the Energy + Environment Foundation.
Dinesh S. Parakh is Legal and Program Advisor to RETScreen International. A lawyer in Ontario, Dinesh has 10 years of experience in international development and has worked extensively throughout Africa. He was formerly with the United Nations Development Program and World Food Program in South Africa, and the Canadian International Development Agency in Ottawa, Canada. Dinesh holds a B.A. with high honours from Yale University, and an M.A. and J.D. from the University of Toronto.
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Q&A Session
By Fernando Nuno / Published on Wed, 2009-09-09 8:16Q: Are legal documents customised / customizable to the local regions?
A: All of the documents available are meant to be examples to help your legal counsel draft documents for your particular project. Some of the documents available are meant to be templates that can be customized to specific requirements/regions, etc.
Q: Is there a market for the environmental attributes anywhere?
A: There are large voluntary markets for the trading of carbon, other GHG emissions, and also environmental attributes such as green, brown & white certificates. Mandatory markets are much more limited at present (and might be restricted to the European Union) but could expand greatly in the near future. Please refer to http://www.retscreen.net/ang/project_legal_documentation.php#a14
Q: Could you speak a little bit about some of the difficulties that might be encountered by Developing Countries when trying to implement feed-in tariffs?
A: This is too broad to be answered briefly. Please refer to the “Legal Aspects of Clean Energy Projects” RETScreen e-textbook chapter at http://www.retscreen.net/ang/legal_aspects_of_energy_projects_e_textbook_chapter.php
Q: Are there any specific courses offered on negotiating a PPA?
A: You may check with the Edison Electric Institute, which offers a similar training session, and also with the Colleges of Law at the Universities of Denver and Colorado. Please also refer to the “Resources” section of the “Legal Aspects of Clean Energy Projects” RETScreen e-textbook chapter at http://www.retscreen.net/ang/references_and_resources.php Q: What is the common cost of ''legal docs'' as % of the investment? A: Legal costs could represent as much as 50% of the “upfront” costs before a project is built. Often, the costs are lower, but they are still quite significant and can thus represent a major barrier.
Q: What is the difference between interconnection agreement and transmission agreement ?
A: An Interconnection Agreement secures a right to feed generated electricity into a grid, while a Transmission Agreement secures the right to transmit this generated electricity over transmission lines. A separate Transmission Agreement is required when the interconnecting utility is different from the transmission agent (i.e., power is sold to a utility which does not own the main transmission lines). Please refer to http://www.retscreen.net/ang/project_legal_documentation.php#a13
Q: Is there a plan for localisation of some those documents?
A: Not at this stage, as it would be too resource-intensive. However, with respect to the normal legal drafting process, all of the documents available provide valuable content that could be used in any country and for any type of law.
Q: Are you receiving feedback on special points of attention with regard to certain technologies or countries?
A: There is a section in the “Legal Aspects of Clean Energy Projects” RETScreen e-textbook chapter at http://www.retscreen.net/ang/legal_aspects_of_energy_projects_e_textbook_chapter.php which addresses specific legal issues associated with various technologies.
Q: Are there frequent known pitfalls with regard to the legal documentation of renewable energy projects?
A: This is too broad to be answered briefly. Please refer to the “Legal Aspects of Clean Energy Projects” RETScreen e-textbook chapter at http://www.retscreen.net/ang/legal_aspects_of_energy_projects_e_textbook_chapter.php
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