UK Puts National Security Conditions on Renewable Energy Storage Deal

Ross Evans’ commentary was included in a Global Competition Review article covering the British government’s approval of Blackrock’s acquisition of a local energy storage developer. This approval was granted after the UK government imposed remedies to protect the security of the National Grid.

Ross commented on how the UK’s new Labour government continues to closely scrutinize transactions in the energy sector using its powers under the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA) – where it has reviewed a growing number of acquisitions of energy infrastructure and assets. He noted that the remedies in these cases have focused on mitigating the potential impact on the security and resilience of critical systems and infrastructure and ensuring that technology, access or information cannot be used – either on their own or as part of a bigger picture across the industry – to create a capability that could present a security threat.