Herbert Smith Freehills advises ENGIE and EDPR on the creation of Ocean Winds, a joint-venture specialized in offshore wind power

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Engie, a world leader in transitioning the energy sector towards renewable sources and EDPR, a global leader in the renewable energy sector, to create Ocean Winds, a co-controlled 50/50 joint-venture headquartered in Madrid, specialized in offshore wind power and which intends to become one of the top five offshore global operators in the world.

The setting up of Ocean Winds follows the announcement, on May 21st 2019, of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a new entity as exclusive vehicle of investment of both ENGIE and EDPR groups to develop offshore wind opportunities worldwide.

Ocean Winds is already operational and controls several iconic project companies in this sector in France, United Kingdom, Portugal and Poland and ambitions to reach 5 to 7 GW of projects in operation or under construction and 5 to 10 GW under advanced development by 2025.

The Paris team was led by Frédéric Bouvet and Nina Bowyer (partners), supported by Sophie de Labrouhe (Of Counsel) and Martin Dijos, Jeremy Griffin and Chloé Stonex (associates) on corporate aspects, Christophe Lefort (partner), Mathias Dantin (Of Counsel), Artem Soloshchenkov (associate), on projects matters, Regis Oreal (partner) and Christelle Salmon Lataste (Of Counsel) on financing matters, as well as Ignacio Paz (partner), Guillermo Uriarte and Barbara Herrero de Egaña (associates) on corporate aspects, in Madrid, and Silke Goldberg (partner) and Sam Cundall (associate), on projects aspects, in London.