Herbert Smith Freehills was named Africa-wide Projects & Energy Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Africa Awards 2022. These awards recognise a law firm’s pre-eminence in key jurisdictions in the region and they also reflect achievements over the past 12 months, including outstanding work, impressive strategic growth and excellence in client service. In granting this … Read more

The Algerian Ministry of Energy Transition and Renewable Energies launched the “Solar 1,000 MW call for tender on 23 December 2021 (the “Call for Tender“). This Call for Tender aims to implement the first installment of the 15,000 MW of electricity generation capacity based on renewables that Algeria aims to achieve by 2035, as provided … Read more

Renewable power solutions are playing an important part in reducing carbon emissions. With carbon neutrality being sought across the globe by 2050, renewable power together with storage can help and, undoubtedly, energy storage systems are a solution that is here to stay. In this article Joanne Elson and Martin Kavanagh consider the predictions for their … Read more

As part of the energy transition, clean hydrogen has emerged as a critical tool in decarbonising our economies. In this article, we discuss the hype around hydrogen, provide a quick recap of hydrogen technology and explore reasons why the African continent is well placed to leverage the opportunities that the push for clean hydrogen will … Read more

While Ethiopia has expanded its energy production capacity tenfold in the past 25 years, it continues to experience energy shortages as it struggles to meet its population’s demand for electricity. Ethiopia’s population is growing by more than 20% per year and it is struggling to provide access to electricity, which is currently available only to … Read more

We are delighted to present an update to our European Energy Handbook. The European Energy Handbook usually reports on regulatory, legal and market developments in the European energy sector. However, these are not usual times as the COVID-19 pandemic is creating significant health, social and economic challenges worldwide, forcing governments and businesses to critically assess the impact on their people, operations and governance. In many jurisdictions, governments have made available support schemes for businesses in an effort to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic on their businesses. In this special edition, we cover 52 jurisdictions across the globe. Read more

For Africa-focussed developers and sponsors in the ‘green’ energy market, development funds (“DFs”) can offer a means to fast-track project development and enhance bankability. To help provide you with a better understanding of the funding options available in the market, we have produced a handy guide which profiles several DFs suited to Africa-based projects, summarising their respective offerings, eligibility and proposal criteria and... Read more

In 2017, the Tanzanian government introduced a raft of legislative reforms to the natural resources sector. Through the reforms the new government looked to ensure that investor disputes were resolved locally and that the Tanzanian government would not be subjected to international arbitrations. The new government showed a particular hostility towards international arbitration (especially in the mining and oil and gas sectors) arguing that it was inherently biased against developing countries, with no neutral ground in international arbitration. There followed a swathe of international arbitrations commenced against the Tanzanian government over parts of the legal reforms that cancelled the retention licences of foreign investors and transferred rights to the Tanzanian government. Read more