Piotr Ciołkowski, partner, and Ada Szon, senior associate in the Energy and Projects practice, have authored the Polish chapter of The Renewable Energy Law Review, edition 5.

A guide for large energy users Across Europe there is a clear and consistent trend for large scale commercial and industrial users of electricity adopting on-site power solutions. This is the result of a range of factors, in­clud­ing:re­new­able on-site generation being one of the most clear-cut ways to help “green” a site’s electricity supply and help the com­mer­cial/in­dus­tri­al user achieve their climate change targets;on-site power solutions having the ability to provide resilience of electricity supply during times of system outage or con­straint;avoid­ance of the network and policy charges typically associated with electricity taken from the grid; andthe commercial opportunities from leveraging flexible on-site power solutions to reduce consumption from the grid and/or to export electricity onto the grid.However, while such opportunities mean that on-site power solutions are often an attractive option, on-site projects will generally come with a complex array of legal options and considerations. These range from:the fundamental point that such projects inherently involve participation in a typically heav­ily-reg­u­lated arena (and often the backdrop of a set of regulations rapidly evolving to keep pace with the sector), toa range of pro­ject/agree­ment structures and parties (without a “cookie cutter” approach) involved in project ownership, operation and electricity sale and purchase, with significant co-dependence between such parties, toa government policy context that (while at face value often pro-green) is often increasingly concerned about grid and policy charges being avoided through these types of project and wishes to see all market participants paying a perceived fair share of such costs. In this guide we provide an overview of these challenges and opportunities in Europe, with a view to assisting you in reviewing, upfront, the key issues often associated with on-site power solutions of this nature.