Tom Bainbridge
Tom Bainbridge has been recognised as a “leading individual” in the legal directories for many years. He has been recommended by clients and praised for seeing the big picture, for his innovative thinking and his commerciality.
His experience includes advising on numerous projects in the clean energy sector that were world firsts in their day – including the world’s first carbon financed biomass refuelling of a power station, the EU’s leading carbon capture and storage project and the first project financed wind and solar farms in the Middle East.
He is a recognised thought leader in the decentralised energy sector, providing award winning structuring, commercial and regulatory advice. He continues to help shape the heat market through his work on major district heating projects, leading the Lux Nova team on the high-profile £320m HNIP work, drafting industry guidance and a suite of published standard contracts for the heat sector.
Tom continues to innovate on clean and decentralised energy and energy efficiency:
- leading work on renewable energy PPAs, including developing ground-breaking renewable energy corporate PPAs demonstrating true ‘additionality’ for the property sector;
- negotiating guaranteed energy performance contracts, helping to save clients millions of pounds on their energy bills;
- innovating on some of the largest smart-grid, storage and EV charging projects in the UK.
He has also been a prominent author and speaker on energy and climate change topics over many years, has chaired and been involved in numerous professional bodies and has given evidence before Select Committees and the National Audit Office.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Membership
- Director, UK Emissions Trading Group
- Former Chair, independent Committee of the Heat Trust, 2017-2019
- Former Convenor, UK Environmental Law Association Climate Change & Energy Working Party (2006-2015)
Qualifications
- Admitted to the Roll (1999)
- Legal Practice Course (1997)
- BSc (Hons) Law with Environmental Science (1996)
Education
- Legal Practice Course, College of Law, London (1996-1997)
- BSc (Hons) Law with Environmental Science, University of Hertfordshire (1992-1996)
1 Contributions by Tom Bainbridge
PRACTICE NOTES
Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014: UK metering obligations for heat suppliers and landlords, enforcement, scope, and key 2020–2026 amendments
What are heat networks?
Heat networks are systems that deliver heating to multiple users within a single building (communal heating) or across several buildings (district heating), drawing on shared heat source(s) and a shared distribution network of pipes and plant. Heat is usually supplied as hot water—steam is uncommon—and there is a growing move towards circulating lower temperature, ‘ambient’ heat...
Where a DHN connects multiple properties, heat exchangers are typically employed to provide hydraulic separation between the central network and the individual building systems. This permits different pressures and circulation rates, and makes it easier to manage temperatures (and ownership) within local buildings...
For further detail on the engineering of district heating networks, see Practice Note: District heating/heat networks—technology. This Practice Note summarises the obligations under the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/3120 (as amended), which form a specific element of the legal framework for heat networks. The Regulations impact landlords, management companies and developers who provide heating, hot water and air-conditioning to tenants in multi-let buildings. For a detailed overview of the regulatory and contractual considerations for communal heating or district heating network projects in the UK, see Practice Notes: District Heating Networks in...
Energy
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