Shepherd and Wedderburn leads onshore transmission and CATO session at All-Energy
For the second year running, leading UK law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn is the headline sponsor of All-Energy, the UK’s largest renewable energy event, which returns to Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre on 4-5 May.
With extensive experience advising key industry players across the spectrum of renewable energy projects, members of Shepherd and Wedderburn’s 90-strong Energy and Natural Resources team will be present at the event and will feature strongly in this year’s seminar and conference programme.
Shepherd and Wedderburn partner and member of the firm’s Energy and Utilities Group, Liz McRobb will be one of the speakers in the Onshore Transmission and CATO session.
Kicking off the second conference day, the session will focus on the significant policy shift towards the introduction of competitive tendering to onshore transmission assets following the publication in January of draft provisions for the implementation of the legislative framework for the Competitively Appointed Transmission Owner (CATO) regime in Great Britain.
Liz has worked with many of Shepherd and Wedderburn’s offshore renewables clients to help them understand the Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) framework as it has developed over the past ten years to ensure client projects are developed in a way that is OFTO ready. With competition in onshore transmission now an emerging reality, Liz is well placed to provide All-Energy’s participants with an overview of the new CATO framework and introductory thoughts on different perspectives of a Transmission Owner, OFTO and developer/ generator.
She commented: “With the first competitive tender expected to take place in 2017 it is important to be informed about the introduction of onshore tenders and understand the impact of the proposed changes on your business. The speakers in All-Energy’s Onshore Transmission and CATO session are immersed in the sector and will provide delegates with a well-rounded overview from different perspectives.”
The session will be chaired by Shepherd and Wedderburn partner, Scott McCallum who has extensive experience in advising developers in securing the permissions and compulsory purchase rights required to deliver onshore and offshore generation and transmission assets.
Scott and Liz will be joined by a variety of speakers, including Ross Baxter from Scottish Power, Gordon Hutcheson from Ofgem, Sean Kelly from Transmission Excellence and Malcolm Burns from SHE Transmission, who will address the impact of the CATO regime on developers and potential CATOs, the challenges it will need to overcome as it develops and the emergence of a new market which could lead to long-term regulated revenue streams for investors.
Concluded by a Q&A and discussion, the Onshore transmission and CATO session takes place on 5 May at 9.45am in the Gala room.