Gareth Phillips

Practice Areas

Gareth co-leads the Global Energy Sector at Pinsent Masons LLP, as Head of Client Relationships. He is a lawyer who specialises in the consenting, financing, acquisition and disposal of renewable energy projects, in the UK and internationally. He understands the full lifecycle of these projects and is well-used to balancing regulatory and commercial factors, bringing together multi-disciplinary teams.

Professional Memberships

Board member of Solar Energy UK

Member of the National Infrastructure Planning Association

Personal

Gareth volunteers with South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust as a Community First Responder, providing emergency care to patients in advance of, and alongside, full time ambulance and paramedic colleagues. He also volunteers as an age-grade, rugby coach.

Clients

Arise Renewables, BOOM Power, bp, Cubico Sustainable Investments, Hive Energy, Island Green Power, Lightsourcebp, Low Carbon, Orsted, PhotoVolt Development Partners, Private Energy Partners, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, Recurrent Energy, Totalenergies, and Windel Energy.

Work Highlights

Gareth has helped achieve development consent for, and investment in, offshore wind farms in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Australia. He also helped pioneer the current era of utility-scale, ground mounted solar farms in the UK, through advising on the origination, project development, consenting, construction procurement and divestment of the 350MW Cleve Hill Solar Farm, in Kent, England. That market leading project began construction in 2023. It triggered a suite of solar projects, most in the 200MW – 1GW range, which in England and Wales are classed as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (“NSIPs”) and require consent from the Secretary of State for Energy Security & Net Zero. Gareth is advising on more of those solar NSIPs than any other lawyer. He has helped secure all but one of the DCOs granted for solar NSIPs to date: Cleve Hill, Longfield, Sunnica, Mallard Pass, Gate Burton, and Cottam, and is also advising on West Burton, East Yorkshire, Fenwick, Botley West, Frodsham, Maen Hir, East Pye, plus many others not yet in the public domain.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

UK, Ireland, Channel Islands, Australia.

Awards