Covington’s renewable energy and cleantech practice is a microcosm of the firm’s traditional strength, seamlessly integrating the firm’s corporate, regulatory, intellectual property, litigation and government affairs lawyers to help industry leaders navigate novel, industry-shaping legal challenges. We represent some of the leading participants in the rapidly growing solar, wind and advanced vehicle technology industries on a wide range of transactional, legislative, litigation and regulatory issues and we have significant experience in a variety of matters for generators of geothermal energy and manufacturers of high efficiency lighting and consumer electronics. We are active participating members of leading trade associations ACORE, AWEA and SEIA.
Representative Matters
Solar
- BrightSource Energy on environmental impact analysis and permitting of its Ivanpah project in the California desert.
- Energy Conversion Devices and its subsidiary, Uni-Solar
- in its acquisition of Solar Integrated Technologies,
- in its capital markets, commercial and project financings, and
- tax, securities, corporate and regulatory advice.
- OptiSolar on the sale of its project development business to First Solar.
- Borrego Solar
- on the sale of its residential division to groSolar,
- on several venture and strategic investments and M&A opportunities,
- on general corporate and employment matters, and
- on commercial contracting matters for distributed solar projects.
- Solar Energy Industries Association in working groups that created an industry standard form solar power purchase agreement for distributed solar projects, organized SEIA's Solar Finance Conference, and presented webinars on project finance.
- Solar Century Holdings Limited, the UK’s leading photovoltaic supplier, on funding rounds, IP assignments, and general UK corporate advice.
- Plextronics in patent infringement litigation with Konarka relating to organic photovoltaics.
- Green Lake Capital in its solar development financing activities, including a pooled power purchase transaction covering six megawatts DC of distributed solar facilities located at municipal sites throughout California.
- Multiple photovoltaic suppliers on “Buy American” issues.
- Itochu International
- on its acquisition of Solar Depot,
- on commercial contracting matters for Stellar Energy, Solar Depot, and DC Power, and
- in the business combination of DC Power Systems and Solar Depot, to create the largest solar system distributor in North America.
Wind
- NRG Bluewater Wind on offshore permitting issues.
- Indian Energy Limited, a wind energy project in India
- on creating a tax efficient structure for the construction of wind turbines in the Indian state of Karnataka (pre-IPO private placement), and
- on its initial public offering on AIM and other capital raises both pre- and post-IPO.
- Wells Fargo on a tax-exempt bond financing of a wind power project.
- RES Americas before Congress on the production tax credit, electric transmission issues, and renewable electricity standards.
- American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) on FERC regulatory matters regarding wind and electricity policy.
Geothermal
- Financing transactions associated with the development, expansion and operation of Calpine Corporation's geothermal energy portfolio, which is one of the largest geothermal resources in the world.
Vehicle Technologies
- Ovonic Battery Company in a range of transactional, intellectual property and litigation matters pertaining to Cobasys, the leading US developer, licensor, and manufacturer of NiMH batteries for transportation applications.
- A Fortune 100, Tier 1 automotive supplier in seeking funding from the Department of Energy under its Advanced Vehicle Loan Program.
- A firm specializing in vehicle weight reduction in structuring consulting and technology licensing arrangements with major automotive and military vehicle companies.
- Cenkos Securities as Nomad and broker to the £115 million placing by AIM-listed Tanfield Group Plc, the manufacturer of zero emission electric vehicles and aerial work platforms, to finance the acquisition of US-based Snorkel Holdings LLC.
- A major energy trade association on issues concerning renewable fuels standards.
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