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Bushfire victims to benefit from off-grid energy deal
An international firm has advised Horizon Power on its off-grid electricity supply for bushfire-affected Western Australia.
Felicity Nelson
Firms: Herbert Smith Freehills (Horizon Power)
Value: Undisclosed
Area: Energy
Key players: HSF’s team was led by partner Dan Zador (pictured), who was supported by senior associate Ana Parkinson and solicitor Maja La Rosa.
Deal significance: Horizon Power deployed power systems to households in the bushfire-affected town of Esperance, located on Western Australia’s south-east coast.
The systems will allow households to live ‘off-grid’, relying on electricity generated by solar panels and stored in lithium-ion batteries. The systems are backed up by diesel generators to cater for extended periods of low sunlight.
HSF advised on all legal aspects of the project, which is the first of its kind for Horizon Power.
“The use of standalone power systems to retail electricity, particularly in the Western world, is highly innovative,” said Mr Zador.
“Over time, such technologies have the potential to displace – at least in part – the traditional electricity supply model. How quickly this occurs depends on the cost of such disruptive technologies, as well as the legislative and policy settings of government.”
Mr Zador said that in Western Australia the current legislative and regulatory framework was premised on a traditional supply model.
“Horizon Power has been able to deploy this innovative electricity generation system despite dealing with a regulatory framework established well before standalone power systems or other disruptive and innovative technologies were a reality.”
