DLA Piper first to sign corporate PPA

DLA Piper has become the first law firm in the world, to sign a corporate power purchase agreement

DLA Piper has signed a power purchase agreement with NextEnergy Group, for the energy generated through a newly built solar park in the United Kingdom.

The solar park, to be built in Somerset, covers 46 hectares and will produce an additional 13 MW of renewable energy. This power will be supplied directly to the UK national grid and the interconnected electricity grid that supplies the 15 DLA Piper offices in Europe and the UK involved in the project. The energy generated by the solar park will be at least equivalent to, but probably greater than, the energy used by these offices.

The environmental credits generated by the project will be applied to the DLA Piper value chain to reduce CO2 emissions from its indirect emissions. This will include exploring innovative mechanisms to apply surplus to support DLA Piper’s suppliers and business partners in their decarbonisation efforts, which will contribute to further decarbonising DLA Piper’s supply chain.

The PPA is an important milestone in DLA Piper’s path to decarbonisation and follows the firm’s announcement of a commitment to halve its CO2 by 2030.

Joaquín Hervada, ESG co-managing partner of DLA Piper in Spain said, “The firm’s investment in this solar park is one more example of our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint through innovative solutions. We are the first law firm in sign a corporate PPA, so this project is a real commitment to be one of the law firms to implement specific measures that help the development of sustainability.The firm has advised on more than 1,000 agreements and renewable energy projects during the last decade and it is very gratifying to apply the deep experience we have gained during this period to our own need to decarbonise”.

Paz de la Iglesia, ESG co-managing partner of DLA Piper in Spain, added: “Sustainability and innovation are fundamental to the way we operate at DLA Piper. This project is an example of how the firm applies the same solutions within our own organization that we have used to advise our clients for many years, especially in the corporate PPA space.”