Continuum Specialty

Greece’s Renewable Energy Market: Accelerating Permits and Unlocking Finance

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Greece is entering an important phase of its renewable energy transition. The opportunity is no longer simply about increasing renewable capacity. The focus is increasingly on how quickly viable projects can move from development and permitting to financing and construction.

Greece’s updated National Energy and Climate Plan sets an ambitious direction for the market, including a target for renewable sources to provide around 82% of domestic electricity generation by 2030.

For developers and investors, however, ambitious targets alone do not deliver projects. Permitting, grid capacity, environmental constraints and the risk of administrative challenge all influence whether a consented project can reach financial close.

Recent reforms seek to address the first of those issues. The question is whether financing structures can evolve alongside them.

Norway’s Data Centre Expansion: Power, Planning and Permit Challenge Risk

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Norway’s abundant renewable electricity, cool climate and political stability have made it an increasingly attractive location for data centre investment.

The latest development is Microsoft’s acquisition of a site at Kvål in Sandnes, part of the Stavanger region, for a proposed 25 MW data centre. The project was announced on 30 June 2026 and is intended to complement Microsoft’s existing Norway East cloud region. The 64-acre site was reportedly acquired for NOK 153.6 million and is already zoned for industrial use.

At first sight, the development appears to demonstrate many of the characteristics investors seek: an established technology operator, a supportive municipality, suitable land and access to Norway’s predominantly renewable electricity system.

However, it also illustrates a wider issue emerging across the Nordic data centre market. Securing land and planning support is only part of the delivery challenge. Access to power, compliance with a developing regulatory framework and the ability to withstand political or legal scrutiny are becoming equally important.

Repowering Europe’s Wind Farms: Greater Output, New Permitting Challenges

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Across Europe, a growing number of wind farms are approaching a critical point in their operational lives. Developers and asset owners must decide whether to extend operations, decommission the site or replace older turbines with modern, more productive technology.

Repowering is increasingly emerging as the preferred option. It can substantially increase generating capacity while making continued use of established sites, grid connections, access routes and operational experience.

However, repowering is not simply a matter of replacing old machinery. Modern turbines are generally taller, more powerful and more visually prominent. Projects can therefore require extensive environmental assessment, renewed planning or energy consents and, in some cases, modifications to grid and transport infrastructure.

For developers, funders and their legal advisers, the central issue is how to capture the considerable benefits of repowering while managing the permitting and challenge risks created by a materially different development.

Renewable Energy and the 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy

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The global energy transition has reached an important stage. Renewable energy is no longer simply supplementing conventional generation. It is becoming the principal source of growth in the world’s energy system.

The Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy records that global energy demand exceeded 600 exajoules for the first time in 2025. Renewables made the largest contribution to the increase in total energy supply, the first time this has occurred outside a period of economic recession. Solar accounted for approximately 71% of that renewable growth.

These figures demonstrate the scale of investment flowing into new generation. They also point towards the next major challenge for governments, developers and their legal advisers: delivering the networks, connections, storage and planning approvals required to turn installed capacity into reliable electricity.

Tall Buildings in Manchester: Growth, Policy and Development Risk

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Manchester’s skyline has changed significantly over the past decade. What was once a city defined largely by mid-rise commercial, civic and industrial buildings is now increasingly shaped by residential towers, mixed-use developments and high-density regeneration schemes.
Recent coverage of Manchester’s tall building boom reflects a wider point: the city’s vertical growth is no longer incidental. It is now central to Manchester’s development story.
Recent market reporting suggests Manchester has one of the largest tall building pipelines outside London. Barbour ABI’s High Rise Construction Market Report has been cited as identifying more than 200 towers over 50 metres, including 26 buildings over 100 metres and 10 over 150 metres. In 2017, Manchester reportedly had only four buildings over 100 metres.
For developers, funders and legal advisers, this raises an important question. How can growth be delivered at scale while managing the legal, planning and neighbourly risks that inevitably arise in a denser urban environment?

Spain’s Energy Transition: Progress, Pressure and System Risk

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Spain has emerged as one of Europe’s leading renewable energy markets. Rapid deployment of solar and wind generation, combined with reduced exposure to imported gas, has positioned the country as a central case study in the European energy transition.

For policymakers, investors and infrastructure participants, Spain has increasingly been viewed as evidence that decarbonisation and energy security can be pursued simultaneously. Lower wholesale electricity prices, significant renewable capacity growth and continued policy support have reinforced that narrative.

However, the nationwide blackout on 28 April 2025 introduced a more complex discussion.

While initial commentary sought to attribute the outage to the high penetration of renewable energy within the system, subsequent analysis has pointed elsewhere. The incident instead highlighted a broader issue facing multiple European markets: whether grid infrastructure, operational systems and regulatory frameworks are evolving quickly enough to support large-scale renewable deployment.

For lawyers, lenders, insurers and developers, this distinction matters.

The key legal and commercial risks in the energy transition are increasingly moving beyond the question of whether projects can be developed. The focus is shifting toward whether energy systems can operate reliably, flexibly and accountably at scale.

The EU Renewable Energy Framework Post-2030: What the Consultation Means for Developers and Investors

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EU

The European Commission’s consultation on the Renewable Energy Framework beyond 2030 represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of Europe’s energy transition. With renewable capacity having doubled over the past decade, the focus is now shifting from ambition to delivery.
For developers, investors, and stakeholders operating within the renewable energy sector, this consultation is not merely a policy exercise. It is a clear signal that the next phase of growth will be defined by how effectively projects can be executed within an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment.

Europe’s Scaling Renewable Energy Pipeline: Growth, Complexity and the Challenge of Delivery

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Renewables

Europe’s renewable energy pipeline is expanding at an unprecedented pace. Across key markets including Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France, governments are accelerating deployment through policy reform, tender programmes and structured allocation mechanisms.

This momentum reflects a clear strategic priority: to meet climate targets and secure long-term energy resilience.

However, as the pipeline scales, so too does the complexity of delivering projects on the ground.

Infrastructure Planning Reform 2026: What the New Regulations Mean for Major Commercial Projects

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The Infrastructure Planning (Business or Commercial Projects) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, which came into force on 8 January 2026, mark a notable development in England’s planning framework for large-scale commercial infrastructure. By expanding access to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime, the Regulations signal a shift in how certain strategically important developments, particularly data centres, may be consented going forward.
While the changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary, they reflect a broader policy direction: recognising that some commercial developments now carry national economic and infrastructure significance, and may warrant a consenting route traditionally reserved for major public infrastructure.

The Planning & Infrastructure Bill: Part 3 Amendments and the Rising Judicial Review Risk

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The Planning & Infrastructure Bill represents one of the most significant overhauls of the UK planning regime in recent years. Part 3 of the Bill, which addresses long-standing environmental constraints on development, has been presented by government as a mechanism to unlock stalled housing and infrastructure schemes. Yet while the amendments promise to reduce costs and accelerate delivery, they also heighten the prospect of Judicial Review challenges. For developers, funders, and insurers alike, the stakes could not be higher.