Project Finance

Practice Contacts

Project Finance

Large-scale projects are subject to a variety of obstacles: finding lenders who are willing to provide nonrecourse financing, changing tax laws that create uncertainty for equity partners, availability of feedstock or other supply resources, and uncertain government regulations that cross national and international boundaries. Businesses need a legal team that is equipped to address the complex mix of legal, financial, regulatory and management issues associated with financing of major projects.

Taft’s project finance attorneys provide business-oriented strategic advice to clients consistent with market trends. Our team has experience structuring, negotiating and documenting project financing agreements. With each opportunity, our team constructs transactions that align with our client’s goals, lender expectations and the needs of tax motivated equity investors.

Clients trust Taft’s thorough understanding of the often complicated elements of financing a large-scale project. Our project finance attorneys are knowledgeable regarding the contract, securities and banking laws that may impact large-scale transactions. We have guided clients through all aspects of the development, construction, financing, restructuring and the purchase and sale of large scale projects.

We counsel clients on a variety of financing needs, including:

Structuring of solar and other renewable energy projects.
Drafting Power Purchase Agreements.
Documenting agreements in a way that protects energy developers.

Taft’s project finance attorneys utilize a multidisciplinary approach – involving energy, securities, environmental, real estate, regulatory, tax and bankruptcy lawyers throughout the firm – to handle transactions from inception to completion, giving our clients unified representation throughout a project’s entire life cycle.

Related Practices

Notable Matters

Negotiating the terms of a tax credit for a solar facility installation and structuring, dealing with other issues connected with electrical generating facilities, including the transfer of a hydroelectric project, and reviewing and negotiating financing for these and other similar projects.
Advising clients on the various tax credits and exemptions available that may apply to their projects, including ITCs, RECs, SRECs and state property tax exemption requirements, as well as providing clients with tax opinions related to the particular project.
Negotiating with tax equity partners/investors in the formation of for-profit subsidiaries to enter into special allocation partnerships for financing of energy projects and negotiating tax credit issues for solar facility installation and structuring.
Advising and counseling clients on the construction of solar energy and biomass development projects, including feed-stock supply contracts, and joint construction and development agreements between public and private sector entities for financing of the project.
Negotiating the acquisition of a combined cycle natural gas fired electric generating plant, the acquisition of gas pipeline companies, the transfer of a hydroelectric project and the accompanying project based financing for the acquisitions and transfer.
Negotiating take-or-pay contracts and project-based financing secured by such contracts.