People

Michel Lequien

Partner

Michel Lequien has 30 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sector. Prior to joining McCarthy Denning, Michel was at Ashurst LLP for more than 22 years, 20 of which as a partner, heading Ashurst’s Energy and Infrastructure Projects group in Paris.

What we say about Michel

Michel’s specialises in energy and infrastructure projects in France, Southern and Eastern Europe and North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

His clients include French and multinational utilities, developers, investment funds and contractors, Japanese trading houses, as well as public authorities and international financial institutions.

Michel has outstanding experience in renewables development and acquisition projects (solar, on- and offshore wind, biomass, hydro, waste-to-energy) in France and Africa. Michel also has a solid track record advising across the conventional power, petrochemicals and water sectors in France, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Michel has extensive experience in the development and financing of major transport infrastructure (rail, road), having advised on some of the most notable transportation projects in France and Southern Europe within the last twenty years.

Michel provides strategic advice on project structuring, partnering and regulatory risk assessment. He drafts and negotiates Joint Development Agreements, Shareholders Agreements, Project Contracts (PPA, Concessions, State Support Arrangements, Lease Agreements, TSAs and Interconnection Arrangements, LTSAs, EPC, etc.) and assists clients on the legal management of projects during the bidding phase (due diligence, local counsel, negotiations), financing and the implementation of projects.

Michel is fluent in French, German and English and works in Spanish.

Some Energy sector credentials:

• advising the lenders on the financing of the development of a solar PV project under a corporate PPA under law 13/09 project in Morocco.
• advising SBEE, the utility of Benin, on the review and negotiation of several PPAs with PV solar IPPs in Benin.
• advising NAWEC, the Gambian power utility, on the renegotiation of a Power Purchase Agreement.
• advising a Japanese trading house on regulatory issues relating to the import and marketing of LNG and natural gas on the French gas market and the determination of its LNG marketing strategy for France.
• advising EIB (European Investment Bank) on the financing of the rollout across France of smart metering devices developed by Voltalis enabling capacity management on the French electricity grid.
• advising the lenders in relation to the financing of a 30 MW demonstration floating offshore wind farm located in the Mediterranean.
• advising the consortium formed by Ørsted, Total Solar and Elicio on its bid for the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a 600 MW offshore wind farm to be located offshore Dunkirk, France (third offshore round).
• advising EDF in relation to the development and project financing of the USD 1.2 billion Octopus LNG-to-Power Project comprising an offshore LNG storage and regasification terminal and a 600 MW combined cycle power plant fuelled by gas in Chile.
• advising the world’s leading renewables developer on its bid for the development, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of solar projects in Ethiopia (250 MW) and in Senegal (50MW) under the Scaling Solar Programme developed by IFC and the WorldBank Group.
• advising an infrastructure fund in connection with the structuring, development and financing of a biomass project in France.
• advising ERG Renew S.p.A., on its acquisition and refinancing of a 65 MW portfolio of wind assets in France and the acquisition of a 125 MW portfolio of wind assets in France.
• advising KKR in connection with its acquisition from Verbund of two CCGTs (2×480 MW) in the East of France, and the subsequent disposal thereof.
• advising Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE), – Morocco’s national power utility – on the structuring, tendering and award of the (now suspended) USD 4.6 billion “Gas-to-Power Project” involving the development and financing of a regasification terminal and two 600 MW CCGTs and all connected gas transport infrastructure.
• advising a major German utility in connection with its proposed participation in tenders for the renewal of a series of major hydroelectric concessions in France.

Infrastructure sector experience includes:

• advising the developer and project company on the structuring and financing of a special economic zone in the Republic of Benin.
• advising the lenders on the financing of a multi-purpose port terminal at San Pedro, Côte d’Ivoire.
• advising a consortium on its bid for the € 700 million RCEA motorway concession in the Eastern part of France.
• advising TP Ferro (Eiffage-ACS consortium) between 2013 and 2017 on the award, financing, construction and operation of the € 1.1 billion concession of the international section between Perpignan (France) and Figueras (Spain) of a new high-speed rail line between France and Spain.
• advising A’liénor, the concession company established by Eiffage and Sanef on the award, financing, construction and operation of the €1.2 billion A65 motorway concession (150 km Pau-Langon section).
• advising Inaer Helicopter France SA (Babcock Group) on the award and implementation of a complex defence procurement contract for the supply and maintenance of aircraft, flight simulators and the construction of the necessary infrastructure.
• advising a Japanese trading house on the acquisition of Portek International, a port services company with assets in a number of African jurisdictions, including Gabon, Algeria and Rwanda.
• advising a developer on the structuring, drafting, negotiation, and proposed implementation of a series of waste collection and waste-to-energy concession projects in Gabon (Libreville), the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Ivory Coast (Abidjan) and Guinea (Conakry).
• advising Veolia on the structuring and financing of the Euro 300 million ‘Brussels Nord’ wastewater treatment plant.