Energy Law and Electricity Regulation

The Chancellor has issued a striking letter to ministers addressing consultation culture, legal risk, and judicial review in infrastructure planning. This entry examines the implications for DCO regimes, explores cost recovery concerns, reviews Scottish wind farm EIA requirements following the Raeshaw Farms judgment, and analyzes Irish planning reforms alongside a recent English housing refusal involving industrial pollution.

Scotland's hydrogen sector is advancing rapidly as developers and investors navigate the complex landscape of land rights, infrastructure requirements, and regulatory frameworks needed to achieve ambitious production targets. With 5GW targeted by 2030 and 25GW by 2045, the intersection of real estate, planning, and evolving EU standards will determine which projects successfully deliver low-carbon hydrogen production and export capabilities.

The UK's clean energy transition is accelerating with renewable capacity coming online at scale, but the gap between political ambition and commercial reality is creating complex legal challenges for businesses and investors building, financing and acquiring clean energy assets. Three structural shifts—electric vehicle adoption, data centre expansion, and battery storage maturation—are simultaneously driving demand...

For companies developing advanced materials, battery technologies, and green technologies, the journey from laboratory proof-of-concept to commercial manufacturing often reveals the most valuable patentable inventions. Scale-up challenges involving heat transfer, particle morphology, coating uniformity, and manufacturing economics can create intellectual property that proves more commercially significant than the original laboratory discovery.

Geopolitical conflicts and climate change are threatening global food security by disrupting fertiliser supply chains and driving up costs. European companies are developing innovative solutions ranging from green ammonia production and nitrogen fixation technologies to circular fertilisers derived from waste streams and biological alternatives that enhance nutrient efficiency.

The Health and Safety Executive will update Great Britain's Prior Informed Consent list from August 2026, implementing changes that reflect international decisions under the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

Investors navigating distressed mining assets face unique challenges where geological constraints meet financial pressures. This legal toolkit explores strategic approaches and practical solutions for maximizing value in turbulent mining markets, drawing on insights from a global platform of expertise.

Two cases filed by mining companies before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea highlight the challenges of competition for governance and economic exploitation of deep-sea resources.

Battery technology advances are driving unprecedented growth in recycling innovation, with patent filings for end-of-life battery processing increasing seven-fold in the last decade. The European Patent Office's latest analysis reveals how the race to create a circular battery economy is accelerating, particularly in chemical transformation processes that could address critical material shortages and mounting waste concerns.

Periods of prolonged heat and dry weather are becoming an increasingly significant challenge for the agricultural sector. While the operational impacts are often immediate, the legal and regulatory risks can be just as important.

Following the UK’s hottest summer on record, the threat and impact of water scarcity has become increasingly difficult to ignore. It is easy to take for granted the fact that many of us can turn on our taps and have instant access to a seemingly limitless supply of clean and safe drinking water. However, there is a complex infrastructure that makes our access to safe water possible.

The Isle of Man Ship Registry has released its Q2 2026 Port State Control Notice, revealing critical inspection trends and deficiency patterns across Manx flagged vessels. Fire safety, certificates and documentation, and life saving appliances emerged as the highest-risk categories, collectively accounting for over a third of all deficiencies recorded during the quarter.