IRENA, Terrawatt launch global effort for standard solar power contracts

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Terrawatt Initiative yesterday announced the launch of a global effort to standardise contracts in order to streamline the development and finance of solar projects.

On the sidelines of the InterSolar Europe in Munich, the two organisations announced their Solar Energy Standardisation Initiative which will bring together leaders in energy, finance and law to define and agree on a standard template for solar project documents that are effective and acceptable by finance institutions.

"High transaction costs for some solar projects are due, in large part, to the complexity of the contractual documents supporting the projects," said Henning Wuester, Director of IRENA’s Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre. "Simplifying the negotiation of these contractual documents will help reduce transaction costs, and allow investment in solar PV to advance more rapidly in more markets worldwide. That is what this initiative hopes to achieve," he added.

The first meeting of the Initiative was held yesterday, with stakeholders including Agence Francaise de Developpement, Chadbourne & Parks, CITI, the Climate Bonds Initiative, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Eversheds, Gide Loyrette Nouel, Global Solar Power, Herbert Smiths Freehills, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, Norton Rose Fulbright, Simmons & Simmons, Trilegal, the United Nations Development Programme, and Watson Farley & Williams.

The initiative aims to share templates and standard documentation by COP 22 in November 2016.

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