Language EN-GB People Expertise Global coverage News and insights Careers About us Search HOME PUBLICATIONS Energy & Infrastructure Seminar Series 2021 Print Related people Ryan Near Global Head of BD - PENRI London View profile → 04 October 2021 Please join us for our 12th annual Energy & Infrastructure seminar series. This series will run from October to December and will provide an opportunity to hear about current trends and developments in both the energy and infrastructure sectors. All sessions are CPD-accredited, giving eligible lawyers the opportunity to collect CPD points, however the series will be of interest to a wide variety or professions. Session 1: The Future of Energy Wednesday 6 October 2021, 9.30am-11am (UK time) Speaker: Scott Neilson We are to fundamentally change the energy system of the world in 28 years. The sheer scale of change globally is going to mean we are all going to be rather busy. But how realistically do we do this when we are transitioning in the reverse of the way we have transitioned in the past – from high energy density to low energy density sources? Is electricity the low hanging fruit? Where is all the energy storage we need going to come from if we don’t have fossil fuels? How do we realistically decarbonise the harder to abate areas, such as transportation and industry? What role will new regulation play and when? This talk is practical and will help you identify what is realistic and where the opportunities really are. No business can afford to miss it! Session 2: A SWOT Analysis of the U.S. Renewables Industry Thursday 14 October 2021, 5pm-6pm (UK time) Speakers: Dan Sinaiko and John Marciano The transition to a decarbonised electric future is in full swing in the United States, with renewables becoming the fastest growing sector of the energy economy. The Biden administration has made clean energy a core objective. At the same time, competing sentiments favouring economic protectionism, fair trade and human rights concerns pose potential headwinds for the sector. We will present an overview of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the U.S. renewables market. Session 3: European M&A Trends Rescheduled from Wednesday 3 November 2021 to Wednesday 2 February 2022, 11.30am-1pm (UK time) Speakers: Sara Pickersgill and Jan Skuhravy European M&A activity over the last year has evidenced the continued resilience of the infrastructure market. In this session we will explore the legal drivers that are getting deals done and where investors are leveraging deal terms for opportunities, as well as the common challenges faced by buyers and sellers of European infrastructure. To what extent is investment appetite adjusting to perceived legal risks, which assets are proving most attractive to whom and for what reasons? Where is the market headed in 2022, and how will investors make the most of opportunities? Session 4: The landscape for hydrogen and CCUS development in the UK Wednesday 10 November 2021, 9.30am-10.30am (UK time) Speakers: Michael Diosi, Chris Andrew, Rachel O’Reilly, Tom d'Ardenne and Natalie Etchells The summer of 2021 has been a significant period for energy transition in the UK with a number of important policy publications from the UK Government. These have included the publication of the long awaited UK hydrogen strategy and further details on the proposed business models to support investment in carbon capture and storage and hydrogen projects in the UK, alongside the launch of the cluster sequencing process for the allocation of such support to pathfinder projects. In this session we will take stock of the landscape for prospective hydrogen and CCUS projects in the UK in light of the summer’s developments and explore the key risks and issues for investors seeking to participate in the developing UK hydrogen economy. Session 5: Renewables in the Spanish Market Thursday 18 November 2021, 11.30am-1pm (UK time) Speakers: Charles Poole-Warren, Ignacio Hornedo, Vanessa Cuellas and Alvaro Sanchez-Bordona In line with many other jurisdictions, the Spanish renewables sector is currently experiencing a boom, with a large number of MWs being developed and active secondary market trading. This session will explore what we are currently seeing in the sector, what we have learnt from the past and hopefully provide comfort for future investment in Spanish renewable assets and also what we see coming in the market in the coming years. Session 6: Mind the gap: Emerging markets, ESG and the energy transition Wednesday 24 November 2021, 12pm-1pm (UK time) Speaker: Suzanne Spears Decarbonisation presents many opportunities for energy and infrastructure investors. However, it is occurring alongside a surge in resource nationalism and a heightened focus on ESG performance in many of the emerging markets that have attracted foreign investors in renewable energy, transition minerals and related infrastructure in recent years. This session will highlight the political and ESG risks associated with the energy transition, lessons from recent investor-State arbitration cases, and key steps that energy and infrastructure investors should be taking now to protect their investments in emerging markets. Session 7: Global Hydrogen Seminar Wednesday 1 December 2021, 8.30am-10am (UK time) Speakers: Michael Diosi, Goran Galic, Simon Huxley, Matthias Voss, Jackson Allen, Hitomi Komachi and Moritz Meister Hydrogen is emerging at a faster pace than anticipated. While market and demand are not yet developed, key governments globally have or are developing hydrogen strategies that will drive how these markets develop. We will cover the important aspects of key hydrogen strategies in the Asia-Pacific, Middle Eastern and European markets, together with trends, opportunities and challenges in and for this sector moving forward. Session 8: Asia Pacific Renewables Wednesday 8 December 2021, 9am-10.30am (UK time) Speakers: Jason Humphreys, Adam Moncrieff, Xue Wang and Simon Huxley Asia Pacific accounts for 60% of the global population and has the world’s fastest rising energy demand. Whilst most of this energy currently comes from fossil fuels, renewable energy is growing and Asia Pacific is starting to overtake the U.S. and Europe with major renewables projects in Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Japan, Korea, Indochina, China, Indonesia and Australia. What does the future hold and how quickly can Asia Pacific make the transition to renewable energy? What are the biggest challenges and how can we overcome them? Session 9: Key M&A considerations for Data Centres Thursday 9 December 2021, 1pm-2pm (UK time) Speakers: Max Landshut, Filip Van Elsen, Zeeger de Jongh, Alun Evans, Jamie Palmer and Grace McLeish Fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic and users’ incremental appetite for public cloud space, data centre M&A surged to an all-time high in 2020 and this trend continues in 2021. This session will look at what makes data centre M&A a category of its own requiring multi-disciplinary expertise as well as key European and Asia-Pacific market trends and drivers, pitfalls to watch out for and best market practices. We will also give an outlook on what is to expect from data centre M&A in 2022 and beyond. If you have any questions about the series please get in touch with Ryan Near or Carolyn Andrews. Download agenda (PDF) Register your interest in the series Cookies on our website We use cookies on our site to remember you, show you content we think you will like and help you to use the site. For more details, please see our cookies policy. Click 'Accept' to consent to cookies other than strictly necessary cookies or 'Reject' if you do not. You can change your mind at any time by visiting our cookie policy page. 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