Working in and with the green shift

Engagements relating to new energy sources, climate technology and green industry have boomed in 2021. BAHR’s Energy & Environment group has at this crucial time been strengthened with former energy law professor Henrik Bjørnebye.

This year has seen the publication of the Government’s Climate Report, with specific measures for meeting climate objectives in Norway. The Energy Report was published before the summer, outlining a green industry and infrastructure transition. This was followed by the Hurdal Declaration, which points in the same direction, before the climate year came to a close with COP26. BAHR’s Energy & Environment group keeps a close eye on these processes and has had an active year with a large number of engagements contributing to the green shift.

- The year started with the IPO of Aker Horizons, Aker’s new green platform. It thereafter continued with the IPO of the battery company Freyr in New York, which will be establishing a large-scale industrial facility in Mo i Rana, Northern Norway. We have acted for Aker Carbon Capture, which has comprehensive carbon capture plant plans, and we have been heavily involved with the Klemetsrud plant and its carbon capture vision, says Jon Christian Thaulow, Partner and Head of the BAHR Energy & Environment group, before adding:

- We have also assisted with regulatory issues on the Hegra project, which is a collaboration project between Statkraft, Yara and Aker that is planning the establishment of zero-emission fertiliser production at Herøya.

Sun and wind power projects

Thaulow and his team have also acted on multiple offshore wind power engagements. The Energy Report

The Norwegian battery company FREYR obtained a NYSE listing on 8 July 2021 Photo: Julian Cannon/FREYR

also occasioned the publication of proposed guidelines on how licences for offshore wind power projects should be awarded. Their involvement with that process has been important, and continues under the new Government. We are assisting providers that are positioning themselves for the filing of offshore wind power project licence applications.

The team has also worked internationally with some of the same issues.

- We have been advising on the collaboration project between Aker Horizons and Hanwha Solutions, one of the leading solar panel manufacturers in the US, with Hanwha having taken an ownership stake in Aker Horizons’ subsidiary REC Silicon. This transaction and collaboration illustrate the potential in establishing efficient solar panel production in the US, through US companies that create US jobs, in competition with China.

Professor on the team

BAHR was also awarded a new framework agreement with Statnett, with Thaulow attributing much of this achievement to BAHR’s recruitment of former University of Oslo professor Henrik Bjørnebye, one of Norway’s leading energy law specialists.

- Having Henrik on the team enables us to offer a combination of specialist expertise on regulatory issues and EU law, with the project, industry and transaction expertise that is the hallmark of BAHR. The market has reacted enthusiastically to this.

The Energy & Environment group, which now boats 33 lawyers, was involved when Sval Energi acquired Spirit Energy, and is advising on the upcoming IPO of Vår Energi. At the tail-end of the year, the group assisted when Aker BP concluded an agreement to acquire Lundin Energy’s oil and gas operations in Norway. This transaction will be the largest on the Norwegian continental shelf since the merger between the oil and gas operations of Statoil and Hydro in 2007.

BAHR’s Energy & Environment group outside our office at Tjuvholmen, Oslo