Gerard Kneppers

Partner

Advocaat

Strongest skills are that he is able to discuss and explain content well without losing sight of the commercial relationship.

— Chambers Europe, 2022

Emailgerard.kneppers@dlapiper.com

Call+31 (0) 6 20 390 673

Amsterdam

About

Areas of FocusEnergy and Natural Resources Financial Services

Professional QualificationsAdvocaat admitted with the Nederlandse Orde van AdvocatenAttorney of the High Court of South AfricaSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

Highlights

EXPERIENCE

Advised Powerfield in connection with their EUR500m equity and debt raise for purposes of facilitating the expansion of its solar, battery and EV charging portfolio.
Advised BASF on the financing of the construction of offshore wind park Hollandse Kust Zuid (at the time of completion envisaged to be the largest offshore wind park in the world) by a group of international lenders.
Advised BASF on the sale of 25.2% of the wind park Hollandse Kust Zuid to Allianz.
Advised Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. in its capacity as mandated lead arranger in relation to the project financing of solar park Vloeivelden (116 MW and at the time of commencement of construction the largest field based solar park in the Netherlands) by Solarfields / ibVogt.
Advised a large international bank in relation to the financing and construction of Solar Carport Biddinghuizen (at the time of commencement of construction the largest solar carport development in the world) by Solarfields and ib Vogt and the subsequent sale thereof to a large European investment company.
Advised a large international bank in relation to the construction and financing of solar park Dorhout Mees (147 MW) (at the time of commencement of construction the largest solar park in the Netherlands) by Solarfields / ibVogt.
Advised a large international bank in relation to the financing (and subsequent sale) of solar park Vlagtwedde (110 MW and at the time of commencement of construction the largest field based solar park in the Netherlands) by an international investor.
Advised a large international bank in relation to the financing (and subsequent sale) of solar park Scaldia (54 MW and at the time of commencement of construction the largest field based solar park in the Netherlands).
Advised Eiffel Investment Group SAS in relation to their refinancing of two portfolios of solar renewable energy assets in Germany and Poland respectively.
Advised STX Commodities B.V. in relation to the project financing by Groengas Cothen B.V. of the construction of a biomethane installation in the municipality of Wijk bij Duurstede with a maximum installed generating capacity of approximately 100 GW per annum.
Advising a leading manager of logistical real estate, in their conclusion of some of the first corporate power purchase agreement structures in the Netherlands.
Advised Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A in its capacity as lender in relation to the financing of the acquisition of solar park Fledderbosch (one of the largest solar parks (with a capacity of some 103,5MW) currently under development in the Netherlands) from Ecorus.

Languages

Education

University of Johannesburg, LLB, 1995

University of Johannesburg, B Proc cum laude, 1993

Awards and Recognitions

Chambers 2023: "He is also able to look from a practical risk relationship perspective and not only from a legal perspective".
Chambers 2022: Gerard Kneppers frequently advises lenders on multi-jurisdictional project and development finance mandates, particularly involving the renewable energy sector. According to one client, his "strongest skills are that he is able to discuss and explain content well without losing sight of the commercial relationship" and that "he gives pragmatic advice".