At DLA Piper, Chris Mitchell in the Melbourne office leads the renewables team across the Asia-Pacific region. In an ongoing highlight, Mitchell and co-chair of the energy and natural resources group Alex Jones in Perth are acting for client Engie on all aspects of the development of renewable hydrogen production facility ‘Project Yuri’; once fully operational, it will have the capacity to produce approximately 604 tonnes of renewable hydrogen a year.

Sydney-based Jose de Ponte is leading the team assisting PureCycle Technologies with its joint venture with SK geo centric for the development of a pioneering ultra-pure recycled polypropylene facility in Asia which will turn plastic waste into a renewable source. The Melbourne team also advised BlackRock on Project Magna, which entails the rollout of 1,000 EV charging stations. The firm is furthermore involved in the development and acquisitions of various battery mineral facilities, including for key clients POSCO and EV Metals.

In Auckland, a team led by Mark Williamson advised Foodstuffs North Island on the procurement process for the provision and installation of solar panels to power the building of its new distribution centre; these are set to form the largest solar panel roof in New Zealand. The team is also acting for the recently formed New Zealand Green Investment Finance in relation to its investment in solar development projects.

To tackle the everchanging regulatory ESG landscape, the firm partnered with Datamaran to develop its bespoke ESG Due Diligence tool. Beyond its advisory capacity, the firm’s commitment also extends to the promotion of sustainability reporting and the sharing of best practices in the legal sector as a founding member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers and the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance. Its own carbon reduction targets are SBTi-validated.