Project Development & Finance

Your capital-intensive infrastructure projects demand a team that has built strong relationships with international and regional banks, other financial institutions, and developers. Backed by a history of global success, our team supports you across all stages of your complex projects, whether in financing and securitization, construction negotiation, or as an investor or developer.

From conception to completion, Alston & Bird’s finance, tax, environmental and land use, real estate, construction, and regulatory teams work in conjunction to provide you with valuable project development and finance counsel every step of the way.

We have experience across a range of renewable and nonrenewable energy projects and other large infrastructure projects, including renewable and nonrenewable utility-scale projects and related infrastructure, toll roads, cell towers, hyperscale data centers, fiber, and rail projects. We help your projects get off the ground with real estate diligence and security interest, acquisition or leasing of the project site, and negotiating rights of way and easements for any transmission line, EPC agreements for construction, and O&M agreements for maintenance.

Our team manages federal and state environmental permitting; air and water permits; general environmental compliance; zoning, land use agreements, approvals, and entitlements and local permitting; and litigation and enforcement. On the regulatory side, we handle state and federal filings and approvals, transmission and interconnection permits and agreements with utilities, market participation rules, and public-private partnerships.

We negotiate power purchase agreements with utilities or industrial buyers, offtake agreements, concessions, other revenue agreements, and tax equity structure documents (ECCA, LLCA) and tax credit purchase agreements. We represent you in project financing using ABS, CMBS, and project bonds. On the tax side, we help you take advantage of tax insurance, tax credits (including investment and production tax credits, 45Q, and 45X), tax equity and hybrid structures, and tax credit transferability (both buy- and sell-side).

In addition to our U.S. exposure, our team includes native Spanish speakers and has vast experience representing banks, multilateral finance institutions, and borrowers in the development, construction, and financing of large-scale infrastructure projects, including power-generation projects in Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Peru.

Development, Construction & Maintenance

Represented an international power-generation, infrastructure, and real estate conglomerate in the development, construction, and financing of a 42-kilometer voltage transmission line and two substations, including the negotiation of the EPC agreement, warranties, and the operation and maintenance agreement.
Represented a Washington, D.C.–based investment fund on its impact investment strategies and execution in Central America.
Advised on EPC contracts for numerous industrial, process, and manufacturing plants across the United States, including California, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Ohio.
Represented an international power-generation, infrastructure, and real estate conglomerate in the development, construction, and financing of a 30 MW wind farm, including the negotiation of the EPC agreement, warranties, and the operation and maintenance agreement with two bidders.
Represented a global top-10 cane sugar producer and refiner in the acquisition of a sugar mill and related cogeneration projects in Central America.

Represented a part owner in negotiating a $14 billion EPC contract for a nuclear power project in the United States.
Advised on EPC contracts for new construction or major additions to seven different coal, gas, or dual-fuel electric power plants in the United States.

Environmental Regulatory, Land Use & Permitting

Lead appellate counsel in a case in which the Eleventh Circuit unanimously held that district courts are authorized to grant pipeline companies injunctive relief to immediately access properties for Natural Gas Act pipeline constructions upon FERC’s approval.
Advised an interstate natural gas pipeline company on local land use matters related to the construction of a 115-mile natural gas pipeline.
Represented a pipeline company in a Title V air permitting and compliance matter with state and Army Corps of Engineers permitting requirements.
Retained by a recycler and manufacturer of electric vehicle battery materials to provide environmental legal support for permitting and regulatory compliance for the construction and operation of battery recycling facilities.
Represented a multinational energy and technical market service provider in a CERCLA enforcement action for legacy liabilities at a former manufacturing facility; negotiations with the EPA reduced the federal and state past response cost demand in the final consent decree by more than $1 million.

Regulatory

Counsel to the first municipally owned gas price hedge provider.
Counsel to wholesale and retail energy utilities (electric and gas) and large data center (e.g., AI and crypto) operators and developers.
Counsel to multiple municipal electric suppliers in a unique statewide solar energy project serving their systems and tailored to a national brand with multiple big-box stores across Georgia.
Represented a natural gas marketer before the Georgia Public Service Commission in pursuing the first new natural gas marketer certification in several years.
Advising on energy efficiency and renewable energy (including solar, wind, biomass, and landfill gas matters), energy savings performance contracting, grant awards (Georgia Department of Community Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and GEFA), clawback issues, public-private partnerships, loan guarantees, tax credits, renewable energy credits (RECs), energy savings performance contracting, property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, and on-bill financing.
Counsel to renewable energy developers on land leases, state and local tax abatements and incentives, state and local permitting, and approvals.

Project Documents

Represented a large electricity utility as the seller of a 20-year offtake power purchase agreement.
Represented a power-generation company as the sponsor in a $1.165 billion acquisition financing of a power plant. Represented the power-generation company in the related offtake electricity power purchase agreement.
Represented an international power-generation, infrastructure, and real estate conglomerate in the development, construction, and financing of a 42-kilometer voltage transmission line and two substations, including the negotiation of the EPC agreement, warranties, and the operation and maintenance agreement.
Represented a bank in a loan to a U.S. nuclear fuel enrichment company with the overall financing that includes financing under a U.S. Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program.
Represented a wind-energy developer in the financings of wind-farm projects.
Represented a company holding a power purchase agreement (PPA) in a joint venture to develop, build, and operate a 77 MW diesel power plant. Represented an international power-generation, infrastructure, and real estate conglomerate in the development, construction, and financing of a 30 MW wind farm, including the negotiation of the EPC agreement, warranties, and the operation and maintenance agreement with two bidders.

Financing

Represented a global bank in a loan to a U.S. nuclear fuel enrichment company in the overall financing, including under a U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee program.
Represented a wind turbine manufacturer in the investment in an offshore wind-farm project.
Represented an international power-generation, infrastructure, and real estate conglomerate as borrower in the project financing of a 50 MW power plant. Coordinated permitting and negotiated the power purchase agreement with the local utility.
Advised an international power-generation, infrastructure, and real estate conglomerate in the financing of a 223 MW gas-fired power plant under a project bond structure.
Represented the Inter-American Development Bank in the structuring of a public-private investment fund focused on tourism projects in Central America. Advised on corporate governance, tax implications, and governmental relations.
Represented two international financial institutions in the $400 million refinancing of a hydroelectric power plant.
Represented a multilateral financing institution in the financing of a liquified natural gas floating storage and regasification unit.

Tax Credits

Represented a publicly traded payments systems buyer in its purchase of ~$150 million of solar ITCs from a tax equity partnership comprising a large institutional bank as tax equity investor and a French multinational energy company.
Represented a global flooring company in a ~$30 million ITC purchase. The credits were generated by a 152,120 MMBtu renewable natural gas facility located in Erath, Texas.
Represented a global home improvement and building products company in the acquisition of a ~$110 million PTC purchase. The credits are generated by a 201.6 MW wind farm in Surrey County, Texas.