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How this award-winning partner is navigating the renewable energy transition
The reigning Partner of the Year has shed light on the challenges and opportunities impacting the nation’s rapidly evolving renewable energy sector.
Emma Musgrave
Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Baker McKenzie partner Aylin Cunsolo (pictured), who recently won the Partner of the Year gong at the Australian Law Awards, shared her journey into the energy and projects space and how the practice area is tracking this year.
“Energy transition is a key priority for government, but also, our clients,” she said.
“We’re working with developers, investors, funds, as well as large energy users who have all got a key role to play in energy transition. And as lawyers, that creates work across multiple practice groups.
“So obviously, for my area, as an energy lawyer, there are a number of different roles that we play in those projects, but also for specialist lawyers like land advisers, environment and planning, construction, finance, corporate – there is work for every lawyer in this industry.”
With Australia’s commitment to reducing emissions and increasing its renewable energy capacity, the legal landscape is experiencing significant changes.
Foreign investment in renewable energy is one of the key drivers, Ms Cunsolo said, noting interest is particularly strong from Europe, Japan and Korea, all of which are keen to develop renewable energy projects in Australia.
“[Those overseas investors] are coming to Australia and looking to develop renewable energy projects across solar, wind, and now more recently, offshore wind,” she explained.
“These investors are often partnering with local developers who’ve got the local skills and expertise and connection. So that gives rise to a range of work in the transactional space, as well as joint ventures and joint development arrangements.”
The evolving regulatory framework in the space is also seeing demand pick up, Ms Cunsolo flagged.
“We’re seeing significant regulatory change in this area as technology evolves,” she said.
“The regulation is trying to catch up with that evolution, but for lawyers, that creates a whole range of advice work on the regulatory framework, including for regulators. For example, we’re working with the Australian Energy Market Commission on a rule change that involves amending the National Electricity Rules to reflect a new objective of emissions reduction. But there’s also work for your market participants in the space as well.”
Despite concerns about an economic downturn, investment in the renewable energy sector remains robust, according to Ms Cunsolo.
She acknowledged that while challenges related to supply chain issues and increased development costs exist, there is still a strong need for new renewable energy projects as older coal-fired generators are retired.
“Supply chain issues, increased costs of development and how that translates through to the need for higher power prices under contracts – [they are all] certainly challenges that we’re seeing, but ultimately, we need to bring these new projects online as the coal-fired generator is going offline, if we want to be able to keep the lights on,” she said.
“So, I think we’ll continue to see that strong investment.”
In response to these challenges and opportunities, Ms Cunsolo emphasised that legal professionals must work closely with their clients. Balancing risk allocation is a key responsibility in this evolving field, she said.
“We’re working very closely with our clients to address these challenges through contracts and through other mitigating measures, and that’s a key role that we play. We’re really looking to work together with our clients to help balance risk, make sure risk is allocated to the party that’s best able to handle it.”
NB: This transcript has been edited slightly for publishing purposes. You can listen to the full episode here:
