With their broad-based experience and expertise, the members of the Energy Team have provided extensive legal services to energy projects of local and international clients, including:
- Company Registration – Establishing appropriate business entities, including advice on legal and regulatory requirements for registration with various government agencies
- Service Contract Applications – Registering and applying for pertinent petroleum, coal and renewable energy service contracts for specific energy projects, including the application under the electronic virtual one-stop shop (“EVOSS”)
- Permits and Licenses – Obtaining all necessary permits for the development and implementation of the energy projects with the DOE, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agrarian Reform and Department of Agriculture, et al., including land conversion and classification
- Structure – Drafting and negotiating shareholder and joint venture agreements and other documents required for project development and implementation and structuring investments in power projects in accordance with Philippine law requirements
- Project Agreements – Advising on power purchase agreements/energy conversion agreements, supply and turn-key construction contracts, engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”)/operations and management (“O&M”) contracts, and other related agreements
- Regulatory Requirements – Rendering legal advice on the qualifications and requirements for necessary registration and application with the Board of Investments (“BOI”) for incentives, Energy Regulatory Commission (“ERC”) in connection with the Certificate of Compliance and point-to-point transmission line; the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (“PEMC”) as a market participant in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market; and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (“NGCP”) for system impact study or grid impact study
- Financing – Drafting and negotiating financing and security agreements, credit papers for the project and assisting in the registration of security documents with appropriate registries in the Philippines, issuing a legal counsel’s opinion on the validity and enforceability of the financing and security agreements for the project and registering foreign investments and foreign loans with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
- Power Supply Agreements – Negotiating bilateral power supply agreements with the relevant electric cooperative or distribution utility and retail customers for the supply of power from the project and drafting terms of reference necessary for the sale by the project of power to the electric cooperative or distribution utility
- ERC PSA Application – Preparing necessary petition, documents and other submissions for the approval of the power supply agreements by the ERC and drafting pleadings, affidavits and other required documents for expository presentation of evidence before the ERC
- Legal, Corporate, Land and Tax Due Diligence – Conducting due diligence on project agreements; real property and rights-of-way; franchises, permits, licenses and other regulatory requirements; environmental compliance; insurance; litigation; employment standards; and general corporate matters relating to project companies; and conducting preliminary legal studies on the development, operations and financing of power projects.
