Alex Aldridge talks to some of the key players in the renewable energy industry about the legal issues they face – and asks what they look for from advisers

"Renewables is moving from boutique to industrial," says Ian Fairclough, legal counsel for renewables and generation at power company E.ON, citing the London Array wind farm, currently under development in the Thames Estuary as an example of the larger breed of projects that are redefining the sector. London Array will become the world's largest wind farm with an output of around 1,000 megawatts (MW) – of similar capacity to a small nuclear or gas-fired power station.

Fairclough, who heads a team of lawyers specialising in renewable energy projects at E.ON, also cites as highly significant the opening of offshore environments to wind projects. The Crown Estate is currently running Round 3 wind-farm tendering process to allow use of offshore sites for wind generation.