FOCUS – October 2024

In a French construction law update, senior associate Sébastien Plamondon reviews the latest jurisprudence on the applicability of the 1975 law on subcontracting to construction contracts governed by French law for international projects located outside of France. (Read more).

Senior associate Sébastien Plamondon looks at multi-contract structures in construction contracts, and practical solutions to manage interface risk in such structures. (Read more).

In Trinity News, we are pleased to announce that we continue to grow our team across our offices. In London, we welcome Pravesh Lallah as counsel, who joins us from his own political risk consultancy having also worked for several years at Allen & Overy. We also welcome Kahema Mungili as an associate specialised in projects and construction matters, who joins us from Clyde & Co. In addition, Darren Williams joins us as billing manager.

In Deal News, since the last edition of Focus, we have been delighted to advise our clients in reaching the following milestones:

• Our Paris office has advised Africa REN and Walo Storage SASU in relation to the Walo Storage project which reached financial close in July 2024. The Dutch development bank FMO and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), acting through Ninety-One, fund manager of EAIF will invest up to a total of €32 million in syndicated debt into Walo Storage. Walo storage is the first battery storage project in West Africa dedicated to frequency regulation. In a country challenged by grid constraints due to limited spinning reserves and the ongoing integration of intermittent energy, the Walo storage project will bring much-needed stability to the local grid and reduce power outages. Furthermore, this initiative supports Senegal’s 2030 Universal Access goal by producing 16 MW from green energy sources and is anticipated to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 17 000 to 21 000 tpy. The Trinity team led in Paris by Partners Marianna Sédéfian, Pierre Bernheim, Luke Muchamore (London), with support from Senior Associate Alexis Giroulet. (Read more).

• Our Paris office has advised Scatec ASA and AEOLUS SAS on the successful financial close of the 100MW Sidi Bouzid & Tozeur solar projects in Tunisia. This major milestone marks a significant advancement in Tunisia’s renewable energy landscape. The total project cost, estimated at EUR 79 million, is being financed through a combination of non-recourse project finance debt, concessional loans, and equity contributions from the partners. The senior lenders for the projects include the EBRD and Proparco, with additional concessional financing provided by the Clean Technology Fund and the Global Environment Facility. The Trinity team was led in Paris by Partners Marianna Sédéfian, Pierre Bernheim, Luke Muchamore (London), with support from Senior Associates Yassine Allam and Sébastien Plamondon. (Read more).

• The Government of Malawi and Mkango Resources Ltd announced in July the completion of a Mining Development Agreement for the Songwe Hill Rare Earths Project to be developed in Phalombe, Malawi. The execution of the MDA marks a significant milestone for Malawi’s mining sector and is reflective of Africa’s central role in the supply of rare earths which are critical for the green transition.  Trinity is privileged to have worked closely with the Malawi Government to support the Government and advise on the Mining Development Agreement. Partners Conrad Marais (London) and Lucien Bou Chaaya (Paris) and Senior Associate Anne-Gaëlle Cottenceau (Paris) advised on the transaction.

• Trinity advised the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), on its multi-million USD facility to finance its telecoms transaction in South Sudan, alongside Finnfund, and the asset management company of iEng Group, Communication and Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI). The financing will enable CREI to provide “energy as a service” to a telecoms company in South Sudan by developing, building, operating, and maintaining energy assets. The transaction team comprised Rinku Bhadoria (Finance), Luke Muchamore (Projects) and associate Katchenin Kone.  The deal marks Trinity’s closing of an infrastructure transaction in its 50th country in Africa. (Read more).

• A team from Trinity London – Partner Fiona Gulliford together with Associate Rhiannon Lock – have advised the Government of the Maldives and the Asian Development Bank in the design, drafting and tendering of a 12.5MW grid-tied solar PV project to be developed across multiple islands in the Maldives archipelago. The bid deadline closed in September 2024 and the Government is currently evaluating the bid submissions. The scope of the Project will be to design, build, finance, own, operate, maintain, and transfer or decommission 12.5MW solar photovoltaic power facilities across 66 Sites in 11 outer islands in the Maldives. The capacity of sites range from 25kWp to 1.2MWp. The generation facilities will connect to new interconnection facilities and BESS systems, which are currently being constructed and upgraded by the Government on each of the relevant islands under a separate project Accelerating Sustainable System Development Using Renewable Energy Project.