Wouter Vandorpe

Career

Wouter Vandorpe is a partner in the Energy & Infrastructure Practice Group in the Brussels office. He joined Baker McKenzie in 2025.

His practice covers a range of areas, including energy-related state support, grid configurations, authorisations and claims, as well as energy projects like solar, large-scale batteries, wind, flexibility, hydrogen, CCUS, ESG/climate, and natural gas.

He has been mentioned consistently as a leading energy and utilities lawyer in Belgium in publications such as Chambers and Legal 500. Wouter is also a free scientific collaborator at the Institute of Environmental and Energy Law at KU Leuven. As a specialist in European and Belgian energy law, he regularly speaks and writes about various topics related to energy and public law.

I assist companies and public authorities mainly in energy law matters, more specifically in relation to the regulation of the electricity and gas markets, renewable energy projects, questions relating to energy efficiency, energy contracts, hydrogen, heat networks, and grid configuration issues. I also advise on specific legal issues relating to public procurement, state aid, public law, waste and water legislation. To this end, I regularly represent the Belgian Council of State and the Constitutional Court, as well as the European Court of Justice. I try to be a versatile, focused and determined lawyer with a practical approach. I gather information and then proceed to identify problems and solutions in files and projects.

I have often been invited as a speaker for new energy-related issues such as hydrogen, charging stations, offshore wind and closed distribution systems. I gave lectures on these topics at the universities of Leuven, Oxford, Moscow, Tromsö (NO), Joensuu (FI), the Flemish Chamber of Commerce (VOKA), CREG, and Flux50, among others. I have been invited several times as an energy expert by the Climate and Innovation and Networks Executive Agency to review CEF Energy Calls, and I am an International Member of the United Kingdom Energy Law and Policy Association (UKELPA).