Almost half of the FTSE 350 businesses surveyed regard cyber attacks as the biggest threat to their business when compared with other key risks. This statistic, taken from the government’s latest FTSE 350 Cyber Governance Health Check report published this May, suggests that the message that cyber and data issues are a business, rather than …
Following a sustained period of low oil prices, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector are under increasing pressure to extract value from the contracts that they are party to. This can put strain on longstanding relationships and can lead to disputes that, in a better price environment, would not necessarily have seen the light …
Does your business produce waste? The answer is very likely to be ‘yes’. Waste can be any number of things; including any material or item which you have no further use for and want to remove. If you are discarding it, it’s still waste, even if you can repair or reuse it. It includes kitchen …
More than four years after its inception, the EU’s Regulation on Energy Market Integrity and Transparency No 1227/2011 (REMIT) is finally getting onto the radar of compliance departments. The first fines for non-compliance have recently been handed out by regulators, and on 7 April 2016 the second phase of REMIT’s data collection and reporting requirements …
Continue reading “REMIT – tough enforcement hits energy disclosure regime”
It seems that lower oil prices are here to stay, at least in the short to medium term. While some in the sector built cash reserves during the boom years or have already renegotiated with their creditors, several are looking at some form of restructuring. This can range from opex/capex reductions to balance sheet restructurings. …
Continue reading “Seven questions oil and gas management should ask when approaching restructuring”
Currently there is about 210 MW of operating onshore wind capacity that is older than 15 years, but by 2020 this figure will grow to nearly 1,000 MW. As onshore wind farms reach the end of their design life, there are a range of options which will be available to the operator. These range from …
With BHS going into administration with an estimated £571m pension deficit and various parties connected to BHS facing questions from the Work and Pensions Select Committee (the Committee) about their role in the sale of the business and the escalation of the pension deficit, the business and political spotlight is firmly on pension deficits and …
Continue reading “Pension deficits and refinancing negotiations”
Your company’s patent portfolio and patent strategy in Europe is soon to become either very simple or a little more complex. The Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the Unitary Patent (UP)are both expected to come into being in early 2017 and will co-exist with the current patent system for a transitional period of seven years. …
Continue reading “Europe’s new patent system: there’s good news and bad”
Unsurprisingly, one of the hot topics of the moment is energy storage. As anyone connected with the energy industry is aware, the prospects for decarbonising our electricity system at the same time as ensuring secure and affordable energy seem to be reaching further into the future. Addressing the so-called ‘trilemma’ of decarbonisation, security of supply …
Continue reading “Energy storage – the answer to the UK’s power trilemma?”
The capacity market, which was introduced as part of the government’s electricity market reform, was established to ensure security of supply in light of the increasing diversity of generation technologies in the UK market. Previous articles from the Burges Salmon team have set out the details of the capacity market and tracked recent updates and consultations. …
Continue reading “Capacity for debt? Funding issues and the capacity market”
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is to be abolished. Although that will be popular among the organisations affected (CRC organisations) there is – and how could there not be? – a sting in the tail. On the plus side, after March 2019 CRC organisations will no longer have to forecast their energy use and buy …
Continue reading “The end of the CRC scheme – the inevitable sting in the tail”
Low oil prices have been causing negative headlines for some time. However, they present opportunities to cash-rich investors looking to acquire assets at discounted prices. Conversely, owners looking to monetise their interests will want to ensure they have their affairs in order in this buyers’ market.