that to be done in a way which will help attract private sector investment to emerging clean tech.
The vital role for private sector investment in the green transition cannot be understated. I am continually reminded when meeting our colleagues in Europe that we are competing with international investors on a global stage, and this was apparent again when the Association of European Energy & Climate lawyers discussed in Germany over the summer the challenges of bringing private finance into projects traditionally funded by regulated utilities.
Another eye-catching change in these last 100 days has been the move of Chris Stark from the Climate Change Committee to run a new ‘Mission Control’ to drive the clean power 2030 plan, working alongside Ofgem, the new National Energy System Operator and other key stakeholders.
Other initiatives from previous administrations continue apace, notably the next crucial steps to build a UK hydrogen economy, helped by the announcement only this month of up to £21.7bn in financing over the next 25 years for carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) projects, to be invested across two clusters in the North East and the North West / Wales.
We are also seeing ongoing work to shorten grid connection queues, and industry code reform which we report on in this issue. But there is so much more still needed if we are to meet our national ambitions and legal targets, for example getting the EV roll out back on track, not to mention planning reform.
Clean hydrogen through electrolysis looks set to be the latest intersection between the worlds of energy and water, and we hear that in our discussions with water company clients. Against the backdrop of the latest PR24 price review, water and sewerage companies are facing multiple challenges, with press coverage across the sector tending to focus on the immediate issues around storm overflows and company debt. But the medium to longer term challenges require careful planning – and funding – to address such things as future water scarcity, increased demand (from both customers and the natural environment) and ageing infrastructure.
For many companies active in the energy and water sectors, procurement law is never far away, and we report in this issue on the changes being introduced by the Procurement Act 2023.
As always, we remain grateful to all of our clients and referrers for keeping us busy with such interesting work, and in particular for being so vocal in your support. This translated into some excellent rankings earlier this month in the latest Legal 500 directory, for a large number of our lawyers across our practice areas working in the energy and utilities sector. It was especially pleasing to see our top ranking for energy & project finance in the West Midlands, plaudits for the work of our energy property lawyers in the East Midlands, alongside a strong electricity ranking for our London office.
