Anderson Strathern has acted as the lead Solicitor to The Crown Estate in the completion of Agreements for Lease for the world’s first commercial wave and tidal electricity project. Ten Agreements for Lease for a proposed 1.2 GW of installed capacity, have been granted for the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters area, said to be amongst the best locations for generating electricity by wave and tidal power in the world.

Following on from the Round 3 offshore wind farm agreements completed in January,   this emphasises The Crown Estate’s unique position in the marine renewables industry. In addition to being a key step towards delivery of the statutory reduction in gas emissions set in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, the Pentland Firth developments will create opportunities in infrastructure projects and supply chains throughout Scotland.

Anderson Strathern’s team was led by Partners Gavin Thain, Deborah Lovell and Alan Menzies and Solicitor Dixcee Fast with support from the firm’s real estate and corporate groups.

Gavin Thain said:
“This is an exciting project for The Crown Estate and for all the developers.  Unlike wind power, wave and tidal power is an industry yet to be developed on a commercial scale making the challenges quite different. The Crown Estate and developers worked together to create a framework for the development of technology.

From a lawyer’s perspective it is a fascinating and unique privilege to be involved in what is virtually the birth of an industry – especially one so central to the economic development of Scotland, not to mention the climate change questions facing us all. Being unique, the Project created its own legal challenges that required innovative solutions to problems that had not been considered at a commercial or legal level before."

Robert Carr, Chairman of Anderson Strathern LLP said:
“We are absolutely delighted to support The Crown Estate on such an innovative and important project of enormous potential to Scotland’s future status in the marine renewable energy sector, and the climate change targets. ”
 
Vivienne King, The Crown Estate’s Legal Director, said:
“We have been delighted to work with the team at Anderson Strathern on the world’s first wave and tidal leasing round not least because a deal of such importance for Scotland was concluded in Scotland.  Anderson Strathern pulled out all the stops for us, providing highly innovative solutions to the challenges we faced in bringing the transaction to a conclusion”.

The formal announcement of the Agreement awards was made by Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, and The Crown Estate on 16 March 2010.

Anderson Strathern LLP is one of Scotland’s leading law firms.  With around 250 people based in offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Haddington and Currie the firm provides legal advice across a wide range of specialist areas covering all aspects of Commercial, Property and Private Client work.

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