Energy & Infrastructure

The discoveries of natural gas off the coast of Israel during the last two decades have completely changed the face of the energy economy in Israel and turned the energy field into a major economic sector in the Israeli economy. The transformation of Israel into a country with significant and important gas reserves together with the continuous increase in the use of renewable energies while developing innovative technologies led to a regulatory revolution with a wide impact and expected complex legal and business issues.

Our firm is at the forefront of energy market activity in Israel and has been following developments in the field for decades.

Our team of attorneys has extensive experience in providing counsel in infrastructure and energy projects in Israel and around the world, including some of the largest, most complex, challenging and innovative projects in Israel that shaped the face of the energy economy as it is today. The representation and provision of counsel in the projects are carried out starting from the initial stages of project initiation, project financing, its establishment and operation and throughout the life of the project.

The legal counsel we provide encompasses all aspects of the projects:

• Establishment of project companies, joint ventures, partnerships and other business entities
• Financing and securitization of infrastructure and energy projects
• Representation in the fields of corporate law and securities and leading securities issuances and debt raisings of the largest energy companies in Israel and abroad, in the largest scales
• Representation and provision of counsel to banks, insurance companies and institutional bodies that are the leaders in Israel in financing and investments in infrastructure and energy projects in Israel and around the world
• Purchase and sale of producing and non-producing assets, oil and natural gas rights and electricity and renewable energy production projects in Israel and around the world
• Participation in tenders and competitive procedures for the purchase or establishment of infrastructure and energy projects
• Agreements for the purchase and sale of projects, participation and joint development agreements
• Regulatory advice and promotion of the appropriate regulatory arrangements
• Obtaining licenses, concessions and permits (including licenses for electricity production, its supply and storage in a variety of technologies, rights to search for and produce oil, natural gas and minerals)
• Agreements for the planning, construction and procurement of infrastructures and facilities (EPC)
• Management, operation and maintenance (O&M) agreements, agreements for connection to infrastructures and facilities and joint use agreements
• Agreements for the use, purchase and licensing of intellectual property (including seismic information, technologies and products)
• Agreements for the sale and purchase of oil and natural gas (including export agreements), transmission, distribution and marketing agreements
• Agreements for the sale and purchase of electricity (PPA), electricity supply agreements, connection and storage agreements
• Representation of the largest energy companies in the energy sector in Israel before all courts, before various tribunals and before government ministries and regulatory authorities
• Privatization of government energy companies

The diverse clients of the firm in the field of energy and infrastructure include the largest Israeli and international bodies operating in the field of energy and infrastructure in Israel, including partnerships in the field of exploration and production of oil and natural gas, private electricity producers, companies in the field of renewable energies, fuel and LPG supply companies, engineering companies, research companies and development in the field of energy, banks, investment funds, insurance companies and institutional bodies, public and governmental bodies, investors and private entrepreneurs.

The energy and infrastructure department is headed by Dan Hacohen, who is currently considered the leading and most experienced attorney in Israel in the fields of energy and infrastructure. Dan is an expert with over 30 years of experience in commercial law with an emphasis on the fields of energy and infrastructure, mergers and acquisitions, project financing and international transactions. Dan was involved in most of the key and pioneering transactions in the field of oil and natural gas that shaped the face of the economy in Israel.

Our energy department is consistently ranked in the top tier of all the prestigious domestic and international rating guides. Dan Hacohen leads the personal ranking tables every year (Star Individual/Market Leader) and Edi Ashkenazi is also consistently ranked as a leading attorney in the field (Highly Regarded/Next Generation Partner) based on client feedback and leading the most significant transactions in the field of energy and infrastructure in Israel.