Munir Hassan

Practice Areas

Munir Hassan is Head of the CMS Energy & Climate Change Group. The Group is a global market leader in specialist legal advice on energy matters, in particular in the power and renewables sectors. Munir’s team advises on a vast portfolio of low carbon projects and transactions across all technologies, particularly offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and biomass, and across legal disciplines from M&A and financings through to consenting, real estate, commercial and regulatory issues and disputes. In addition, it is helping to carve a path forward for technologies that are accelerating the energy transition, from shaping the business models for carbon capture and storage, advising on small modular nuclear reactor projects, the first commercial scale floating offshore windfarms and on hydrogen projects in all their various colours.

Munir advises on all aspects of power from generation to networks. He started his career advising largely on power and gas networks, wholesale markets, industry and regulated frameworks and conventional power stations. Over the past fifteen years this expertise has been supplemented with a strong focus on the clean energy sector, including on securing project opportunities (whether merchant or government procured), permitting, dealing with the challenges of a constantly changing commercial and regulatory environment on a national and international level, the commercial arrangements for projects, revenue stream arrangements, project contracts and operational optimisation. He provides the sectoral expertise on M&A transactions, project financings and disputes across the UK, Europe, Asia, MENA, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

He is also renowned for his depth of expertise in wholesale market reforms, restructurings, privatisations and reforms of regulatory frameworks. This wealth of background gained from over twenty five years of advising on the rules in the sector are currently helping clients and counterparts address the novel challenges that arise as we make lasting decisions that will shape our future energy system.

Munir is the editor of “Wind: Projects & Transactions”, “Power: A Practical Guide”, the Renewable Energy Law Review 2023, the CMS Renewables Guide covering over 40 jurisdictions and a number of other specialist energy publications. He is also the Chair of the Energy Committee of the City of London Law Society.

Work Highlights

Offshore wind: Advising on most of the UK’s offshore wind projects and transactions, including Moray Firth, Dudgeon, Sheringham Shoal, Forewind, Gwynt y Mor Njord, Heron and other SMart Wind projects, Blyth, Navitus Bay, Rhyl Flats, First Flight Wind project in Northern Ireland, Hywind, Galloper and Triton Knoll. International offshore wind experience includes advising the Kansai Electric Power Co. on its participation in a consortium led by Glennmont Partners which has acquired a 50% ownership share in Germany’s 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm from Ørsted.

Onshore wind: Advising on a significant number of projects and transactions, including Scout Moor, Little Cheyne Court, Tir Mostyn, Lake Turkana (Kenya), Singida (Tanzania) and Tesla / Dolovo (Serbia).

Other technologies: Advising on conventional gas and coal fired power projects, biomass projects, tidal and wave projects (including the first tidal barrage, Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon), a large number of solar projects and transactions, energy from waste projects, district heating, energy storage projects and on the White Rose, Humber, Longannet and Kingsnorth carbon capture and storage projects.

Nuclear power: Advising the shareholders in Horizon Nuclear Power on Nuclear New Build; RWE Npower on new nuclear power stations proposed in the UK on two sites at Anglesey and Gloucestershire; Vattenfall in relation to its bid for British Energy; on the drafting of new nuclear decommissioning fund legislation in Slovakia.

Electricity market reforms: utility restructurings and privatisations: Advising on successive reforms in the UK electricity market since the New Electricity Trading Arrangements in 1999, CFDs for Dudgeon, Heron, Njord and CCS, on the Capacity Market arrangements, and on market reforms and restructurings in Mexico, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, seven countries in South East Europe and Ireland. Also advised on retail market reform in Northern Ireland and Saudi Arabia

Reform of regulatory frameworks: Advised on the establishment of a new legal and regulatory framework in Saudi Arabia, Botswana and South Africa.

Energy networks: Drafted the Grid Code or Connection and Use of System Codes for England & Wales (now extended to GB), Northern Ireland, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Italy and advised TSOs and TNOs in a number of jurisdictions.

Commercial, project and regulatory advice: Advising on commercial and regulatory arrangements on power projects, including offtake (PPA) agreements, grid connections, offshore and onshore leases, regulatory compliance, fuel supply arrangements, EPC and O&M arrangements, TSAs and decommissioning arrangements.

Other utility sectors: Advising in other regulated sectors such as gas (including multi-utility arrangements), water (bid for Thames Water), rail (establishment of Network Rail) and airports (bid for Gatwick Airport).

Education