Confidential Client – Renewable Energy Commercial Dispute

The case related to a commercial dispute between two former business partners who had jointly worked on a renewable energy development project. One partner was responsible for the technical development of the project whilst the other led on financial matters.

The development project progressed through several iterations which led to changes in the business structure and the apportionment of financial benefit. Claims arose in respect of the governance and decision making in the re-structure and one of the partners brought a derivative action against their former colleague because of losses arising from the restructuring of the venture.

Key points in the case related to roles and responsibilities of the project, the likelihood of success of the development project, and quantification of the claimant’s loss.

WRM provided expert witness support on the technical matters of the case, specifically on:

1. The likelihood of the project progressing in accordance with business plan expectations (prior to the restructuring). This required a review of development plans, programmes and design details from the development stage of the project. WRM used our experience of procurement and development projects to benchmark and provide a professional opinion ton whether the project would have fulfilled business plan expectations.

2. The value from the project that would have been enjoyed by the claimant, notwithstanding the defendant’s actions. This required WRM to develop a full techno-economic model for the project and to benchmark key assumptions within the financial projections. By producing the project model, WRM were able to quantify revenue income, as well as the value of the shareholding in the project.

These WRM deliverables were used by the claimant’s legal team to develop the case, alongside further wider work on project and company governance. Specifically, WRM’s work was instrumental in quantifying the damages sought by the claimant through the action.

The case concluded with an out-of-court settlement. The report produced by WRM was a contributing factor in the mediated closure to the case.