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Ward Hadaway advises developers of industrial scale renewable energy project

LAWYERS from Ward Hadaway’s Energy Group advised JFS & Associates, one of the UK’s leading biogas developers in connection with the development of an industrial scale food waste scheme in Yorkshire.

In conjunction with City funders, Leeming Biogas has been developed by JFS to convert waste material from the food production industry into green energy.

The project at Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire is expected to be one of the largest facilities of its nature in the country and will provide sufficient green energy to power more than 2,500 homes. Construction of the plant is due to be completed by September 2015.

The JFS management team drew on the support offered by commercial, property and projects lawyers at Ward Hadaway, all of whom have extensive experience of working with biogas projects, and with JFS in the past.

Matt Cormack, Associate in the Commercial Department at Ward Hadaway, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with JFS once more on a project of this nature. Our understanding of the approach of the funders and JFS allowed us to provide focused advice to the client’s team within a relatively short development timetable.”

Colin Hewitt, Partner and Head of the Commercial Department at Ward Hadaway, said: “This most recent transaction builds upon Ward Hadaway’s experience gained from advising on a number of significant farm scale and industrial biogas projects across the country.

“In the last two years, the team has completed nine biogas schemes and advised on many others, highlighting our position as a leading adviser in this sector across the North of England.”

In addition to the growing portfolio of farm scale projects, this latest transaction for JFS broadens the range of its projects to include larger merchant facilities.

As with the farm scale schemes, the project is supporting employers in the region, both through the construction phase and once operational.

The facility will offer regional food manufacturers a lower cost option for disposal of waste, helping to keep the businesses competitive and preserving jobs.

Matthew Flint, director at JFS & Associates, said: “The completion of Leeming Biogas represents the conclusion of 24 months of hard work for all involved.  It was a pleasure to work with the team at Ward Hadaway who yet again demonstrated their knowledge of the sector and of the needs and objectives of all parties involved.

“The lawyers at Ward Hadaway demonstrated their dedication to providing the right advice at the right time.  Their approach helped us to secure the best deal, providing commercial advice in a supportive manner throughout the process.”

Besides working on projects for JFS, the Energy Team has been involved in numerous renewable and conventional energy sector matters nationally.

Most recently, the team has advised a number of wind project developers in connection with medium and larger scale wind schemes across England and Scotland, an industrial business in connection with a project to construct its own 30MW gas fired power plant and several matters for distribution network operators and power traders in the UK.

Colin Hewitt said: “2014 has been as busy a year as we expected, allowing us to add new resource to the team in construction, property and commercial disciplines.  We will no doubt build on this growth next year with several more transactions we know are in the pipeline.”

Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.

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