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About Oliver

Oliver advises lenders and sponsors on the development and financing of cross-border energy and infrastructure projects across a broad range of industries, many of which are the first of its kind in their sector. He has significant experience advising on multi-sourced project financings involving export credit agencies, multilaterals and development finance institutions, as well as commercial banks and traders. Oliver is frequently involved in the negotiation and structuring of complex intercreditor matters.

IFLR1000 has identified Oliver as a “Rising Star” or “Highly Regarded” every year since 2013, and he has been ranked by Chambers UK each year since 2012, where clients report that Oliver is considered “truly outstanding” and highlight his “knowledge of debt financing” and “drive to get the deal done.” In the 2022 edition of Chambers UK clients comment, “Oliver is calm, cool, collected ꟷ he knows his stuff, which shows through in tough moments of negotiations.” They also note in Chambers UK 2024 that "he's extremely knowledgeable and responsive" and in Chambers UK 2021 that the “technical ability, precision and accuracy of his work combined with his responsiveness makes him a very good lawyer” and he “is very pragmatic, very thorough and commercial.” Oliver is also ranked as a “Next Generation Partner” for Projects, Energy & Natural Resources ꟷ Infrastructure in The Legal 500 United Kingdom (2018-2024), and was nominated by in-house counsel and peers to appear in Euromoney’s 2015, 2016 and 2017 “Rising Stars” Expert Guides. Legal 500 UK 2023 noted that Oliver “has provided a decisive contribution in very complex groundbreaking transactions” and that he “has an unparalleled ability to understand the client’s needs and to provide very sound and reliable advice to fulfill them.” Oliver was also recognized by Law360 as a 2019 MVP for Project Finance and serves on Law360’s Project Finance Editorial Advisory Board (2020-2022).

Oliver Irwin is a brilliant finance lawyer; knowledgeable, adaptable, well-connected and with a strategic and commercial approach.
The Legal 500 United Kingdom, 2021

Experience

Recent Notable Matters

Power

PLT Energia — joint venture with GGS Energy LLC to develop more than 1 GW of renewable energy in Texas

Rabobank — project financing the 49.5 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project to be developed by Cero Generation and Enso Energy and co-located with the 49.9 MW Larks Green solar farm located in Gloucestershire, England

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures — limited recourse project financing of the 34 MW Contego and 99 MW Clay Tye battery energy storage projects in the United Kingdom

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures — on the establishment of a platform with Tyler Hill Partners to develop, construct and operate a portfolio of up to 1 GW of battery energy storage system projects across the United Kingdom

Eni S.p.A. — £140 million acquisition of a 20 percent interest in the Dogger Bank (C) 1.2 GW offshore wind farm project from Equinor and SSE

Clay Tye Battery Storage Project — Fotowatio Renewable Ventures in connection with the development of a 99 MW/198 MWh utility battery storage project powered by Tesla Megapack lithium-ion batteries in the UK

Dogger Bank (A and B) — Eni S.p.A. in relation to its £405 million acquisition of a 20 percent interest in the project financed 2.4 GW UK offshore wind farm project from Equinor and SSE

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures — development of a 34 MW/ 68 MWh utility scale battery storage project, to be constructed and operated by Tesla in the United Kingdom

Al Kharsaah IPP — Marubeni Corporation and Total Solar in the development, implementation and financing of the 800.15 MW Al Kharsaah Solar PV Independent Power Project in Qatar

REPDO Round 2 IPPs — Marubeni Corporation and Al Jomaih Energy and Water Company consortium as the winning bidder for the Rabigh 300 MW solar PV IPP, tendered under the second round of the Saudi Arabian National Renewable Energy Program

Masrik-1 solar project — representing FRV on the project finance aspects of a 55 MW solar project in Armenia

Facility E IWPP — representing the Marubeni and Kyushu Electric consortium in connection with its bid for an integrated water & power plant in Qatar

Saudi REPDO Round 2 — representing the lenders to the Engie consortium in connection with its bid for solar IPP PV Projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Al Ezzel — representing the lenders on the PFI deal of the year award winning refinancing of the Al Ezzel IPP in Bahrain

Benban Solar Park — represented Alcazar Energy Partners on the project finance aspects of its four 50 MW solar projects (AEES1, Delta, Aten and Horus projects) in Round 2 of Egypt's renewable feed-in tariff programme

Jordan battery storage — represented a developer on its bid for the 30 MW Irbid Substation battery storage project

Dumat Al Jandal — acting as lenders' counsel for the Engie consortium's bid for the 400 MW wind project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Cerro Dominador — representing EIG in connection with the $800 million project financing of a 100 MW PV solar plant and 110 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) solar plant in Chile, the first project financing of a CSP solar plant in Latin America*

Barakah Nuclear Power Project — representing K-Exim and another export credit agency, HSBC, SCB and various UAE financial institutions in connection with the $24.4 billion financing of the Barakah 4,800 MW nuclear power plant in the UAE, the first-ever project financing of a nuclear power plant and the largest ever independent power projects (IPP) financing*

Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm — representing Statkraft in connection with its debt and equity financing arrangements for the £1.3 billion project financing of the 402 MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm*

Oil & Gas

Savannah Energy PLC — $407 million acquisition of ExxonMobil’s entire upstream and midstream asset portfolio in Chad and Cameroon 

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. — up to $150 million prepayment facility with Trafigura as lender, with repayments to be deducted from the price payable by Trafigura under commercial contracts for the purchase of crude oil from Gran Tierra's producing fields located in Colombia

Savannah Energy Plc — financing arrangements in respect of Savannah’s acquisition of Exxon and Petronas’ entire interests in the Doba oil field in Chad and their shareholding in the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline and Floating, Storage and Offloading vessel for a total consideration of up to $676 million

Premier Oil Sea Lion Development — representing Premier Oil and its joint venture partners in connection with the proposed project financing of the Sea Lion offshore oil field development in the North Falkland basin

New Age Etinde Project — representing New Age (as operator) in connection with the development and proposed project financing of the Etinde gas export project in Cameroon

Anglo Tunisian Oil & Gas Limited — acquisition of Medco Tunisia, a seven asset upstream oil and gas business in Tunisia, including the associated acquisition financing

Vitol participation in OCTP oil and gas field — Representing IFC, UK Export Finance and eight commercial banks in connection with the $1.5 billion financing of Vitol’s participation in the development of Ghana’s Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) oil and gas field. This multi-sourced quasi project and reserve-based lending (RBL) financing also included a Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) covered facility and benefited from complex World Bank support arrangements in relation to the gas offtake. The project’s overall cost of approximately $7 billion represents the largest foreign direct investment in Ghana’s history, and UKEF’s largest direct loan to date.*

Isramco's participation in Tamar gas field — representing the Lenders and hedge counterparties in connection with the $1.25 billion hybrid RBL bridge and term Dollar/Shekel loan facilities to Isramco for its participation in the development of the Israeli offshore Tamar gas field*

Reliance Industries Limited — representing various export credit agencies and lenders in connection with RIL's ECA financing programme for the expansion of its Jamnagar petrochemicals project and the development of its Reliance Jio 4G project*

Infrastructure

Al Ansar Hospital PPP — advising lenders to a consortium of Tamasuk and Alghanim in relation to the development of the Al Ansar Hospital PPP in Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Neom Residential Communities, Wave 2 — advising Vision International Investment Company-led consortium regarding its bid for up to 21 construction villages at NEOM

Neom Residential Communities, Wave 1 — advising lenders to the Tamasuk-led consortium regarding its successful tender for and winning of two out of six construction villages at NEOM

Hellas Gold Single Member, S.A. — €680 million project financing facility for a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Corporation for the development of the Skouries gold and copper mine in Northern Greece  

Mantos Blancos Copper Mine — representing Anglo Pacific Group in connection with its acquisition of a NSR Royalty over all copper produced at the Mantos Blancos copper mine in Chile

Al Wakra Sewage Treatment Plan — representing an international consortium in respect of its bid for a sewage treatment plant in Qatar

Seabras 1 — representing the project company on its $500 million BpiFrance supported financing of a subsea fibre optic cable system between the commercial and financial centers of Brazil (Sao Paolo) and the US (NY)

O3b Networks Limited — Representing the project company on the $1.7 billion financing for the satellite operator O3b Networks Limited. This award winning multi-sourced financing structure brought together one ECA (BpiFrance), 4 commercial lenders, 7 development finance institutions (AfDB, IFC, FMO, DEG, EAIF, Proparco and DBSA) and nine equity investors.*

Reliance Jio 4G Telecom — representing the lenders (including K-Exim and K-Sure) on multiple award winning financings for Reliance Jio 4G Telecom to finance goods and services for 4G infrastructure in India*

* Work completed prior to Bracewell

Publications and Speeches

“United Kingdom: Renewable Energy 2022,” International Comparative Legal Guide, September 2021.

“Square Pegs and Round Holes,” Project Finance International, October 2020.

“United Kingdom: Renewable Energy Laws and Regulations 2021,” International Comparative Legal Guide, September 2020.

Credentials

Education

Nottingham Law School,
LPC, GDL
2004
University of Newcastle Upon Tyne,
Bachelor of Arts
2001
hons

Bar Admissions

Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

Affiliations

Law360
Project Finance Editorial Advisory Board
2020 - 2022

News

News

Bracewell’s Projects Team Shortlisted for Two IFLR Europe 2023 Awards

The Middle East Legal Awards 2021: Who Won What and Why

Bracewell Named Finalist for Three IFLR Europe Awards

United Kingdom: Renewable Energy Laws and Regulations 2021

COVID-19: Strange Times, Familiar Principles

RBLs — When Two Black Swans Collide

Bracewell Shines in Legal 500 UK Rankings

Insights

Insights

ICLG: England & Wales Renewable Energy 2024

Bracewell’s Oliver Irwin, Robert Meade, Nicholas Neuberger and Adam Quigley authored the England & Wales Q&A analysis chapter in the fourth edition of International Comparative Legal Guides – Renewable Energy Laws and Regulations 2024.

ICLG: The Rise of Co-Located Renewable Projects 2024

Bracewell’s Oliver Irwin, Ro Lazarovitch and Nicholas Neuberger take a brief look at the current state of the co-location market and the corporate structuring solutions being adopted, as well as certain bankability considerations in the Expert Analysis chapter in the fourth edition of International Comparative Legal Guides – Renewable Energy Laws and Regulations 2024.

ICLG: UK Renewable Energy 2023

Bracewell’s Oliver Irwin, Robert Meade, Nicholas Neuberger and Kirsty Delaney authored the United Kingdom Q&A analysis chapter in the third edition of International Comparative Legal Guides – Renewable Energy 2023: Practical Cross-Border Insights into Renewable Energy Law.

Competing Considerations in Intercreditor Agreements for Project Finance, Mining Streams and Royalties

Bracewell’s Oliver Irwin and Darren Spalding co-authored the chapter “Competing Considerations in Intercreditor Agreements for Project Finance, Mining Streams and Royalties” in the 10th edition of International Comparative Legal Guide – Mining Law 2023: Practical Cross-Border Insights into Mining Law.

Noteworthy

Noteworthy

Chambers Global
UK - Projects, 2022 - 2024
Chambers UK
Projects, 2012 - 2024 (Up and Coming, 2019 - 2020; Associate to Watch, 2012 – 2018)
The Legal 500 United Kingdom
Projects, Energy & Natural Resources - Infrastructure, 2018 - 2024 (Next Generation Partner, 2018 - 2024); Projects, Energy and Natural Resources – Power (including Electricity, Nuclear and Renewables), 2020 - 2024; Projects, Energy and Natural Resources – Oil & Gas, 2020 - 2021; Finance – Emerging Markets, 2020 - 2021, 2023 - 2024; Finance – Bank Lending: Investment Grade Debt and Syndicated Loans, 2020, 2023 - 2024
Delinian Limited
IFLR1000 Financial & Corporate and M&A Guide
Highly Regarded: Banking, 2019 - 2023; Project Finance, 2019 - 2023; Rising Star: 2013 – 2018
Portfolio Media, Inc.
Law360
MVP of the Year: Project Finance, 2019
Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
“Rising Stars Expert Guide”
Rising Star, 2015 – 2017
Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
IFLR European Awards, Rising Star, Project Finance, 2014
Finance Monthly
Deal Maker of the Year, 2016; Game Changers Awards, 2018

Events

Past Events

Dubai Week

May 17, 2022 - May 19, 2022

Dubai Week

May 17, 2022 - May 19, 2022

Irwin to Speak at WFES in Abu Dhabi

January 14, 2019 - January 17, 2019