Burges Salmon advises Bristol City Council on low carbon energy infrastructure project

Burges Salmon has advised Bristol City Council’s City Leap project on a twenty-year joint venture with leading cleantech integrator and renewable energy asset developer, owner and operator Ameresco, which will enable the delivery of more than £1 billion of investment into Bristol’s energy system.

The deal involves projects that will transform how Bristol generates, distributes, stores and uses energy. Projects include expansion of the city’s district heat network, installing wind turbines and solar panels, retrofitting homes with insulation and rolling out heat pumps, ultimately contributing to a cleaner, greener city. Bristol-based Burges Salmon advised on all the legal aspects of the structuring, procurement, the concession arrangement and joint-venture agreement.

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol said: “Bristol City Leap is a big deal for Bristol. This is a world first and sets out a clear blueprint for city-scale decarbonisation for other cities and regions to follow. Bristol City Leap will have a real impact for Bristol residents including the ways that we power and heat our homes, which is perhaps more important than ever before.

“With Bristol City Leap, our city will become a real focal point for new low carbon technologies and smart energy systems whilst creating thousands of jobs and ensuring a just transition. I’m delighted that we have found a partner that shares our vision for a fairer, decarbonised future."

Burger Salmon's Camilla Usher-Clark said: “This landmark project will accelerate Bristol’s journey to Net Zero, and we are honoured to have been entrusted by Bristol City Council with working on it all of the way through, since its inception. We’ve worked in very close collaboration with the in-house project and legal teams at the Council, and very much look forward to seeing the programme develop over the coming years.”

Bristol City Council launched the City Leap project in May 2018, with Burges Salmon chosen as its legal adviser later that year. The local authority has led the market in energy efficiency and investment initiatives since 2005, bringing in a new era of renewable energy generation, low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency. It met its 2020 carbon reduction target three years early.

Bristol’s Mayor, Marvin Rees, and Bristol's Cabinet signed off the City Leap deal between Bristol City Council and Ameresco Limited last month (with Vattenfall Heat UK as an essential subcontractor), which sees a new joint venture firm created. At least £424 million will be invested into clean energy projects in the first five years of the deal, aiming to create 1,000 new jobs and reduce the city’s carbon footprint by at least 140,000 tonnes. This will support Bristol in meeting its carbon reduction ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.