Michael Duff

Practice Areas

Michael Duff is a partner in the firm’s Global Project, Energy & Infrastructure Finance Group. His practice focuses on matters relating to renewable energy and infrastructure/project finance.

Mr. Duff has extensive experience in advising on the formation of joint ventures and partnership structures used to develop, acquire, and operate a variety of renewable energy assets. Mr. Duff has a diverse client base and represents tax equity participants including BofA, JPM, HSBC, Wells Fargo, Google, Capital One, Citi, MUFG, GAF, State Street, Allianz, and New York Life; lenders including HSBC, BofA, CIBC, Santander and CSFB; and private equity/energy funds including Starwood, Oak Hill Advisors and Blackstone. Mr. Duff has been actively involved in the acquisition and financing of renewable energy assets since the sector’s inception structuring the first tax equity financing of a utility scale wind project in the US. He has advised clients in the financing or acquisition wind projects, utility scale solar projects, C&I solar portfolios, residential solar funds, geothermal plants, electric vehicle portfolios, fuel cells and carbon sequestration projects.

Mr. Duff is ranked Band 1 in Chambers 2023: Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy USA – Nationwide. He is described as “very practical, effective, solution-orientated and pragmatic” (Chambers 2023). Mr. Duff is also recognized in the 2014, 2015 and 2017 editions of Legal 500 as recommended in Domestic Tax: West Coast.

Experience

Recent Representative Matters

• Representing a fund in its joint venture with a solar developer, including negotiation of a Solar Sourcing Agreement, the MIPA, the joint development agreement and related contracts (PPAs, EPCs, etc.)

• Representing a solar sponsor in the sale of its C&I business

• Representing a tax equity investor in the approximately $1 billion tax equity financing of a portfolio of wind and solar projects

• Representing tax equity investors in the approximately $500,000,000 tax equity financing of a portfolio of wind projects

• Representing a sponsor joint venture in the financing of several utility scale solar projects

• Representing an investor in the acquisition of a fleet of electric vehicles that qualify for the EV credit and subsequent ABS financing of the fleet

• Representing the tax equity investors in the tax equity financing of the Vineyard Wind Project

• Representing a lender providing bridge financing for a portfolio of utility scale solar assets

• Representing JPM in the approximately $300,000,000 tax equity financing of multiple wind projects and affiliated storage facilities

• Representing a tax equity investor in the approximately $1 billion sale of their tax equity portfolio

• Represented BofA in the approximately $105,000,000 tax equity financing of two stand-alone energy storage facilities

• Represented BofA, HSBC, GE, and Wells Fargo in the approximately $873,000,000 tax equity financing of the Western Spirit Wind Project