Sam Saunders

Solar, Wind, Battery Storage and Other Power

• BlackRock and its portfolio company Jupiter Power in a $225 million corporate credit facility to support the development of utility-scale battery energy storage projects
• Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in its approximately $1 billion investment in a portfolio of wind and solar projects with NextEra Energy Resources
• KKR on a development financing facility for Avantus, a U.S. developer of large utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage projects
• Issuer in a 4(a)2 private placement to fund construction of a large transmission project
• An onshore wind and battery storage developer on proposed debt financing consisting of a warehouse facility and opco bond*
• Various restructuring matters, including SunPower Corporation in its liability management and Chapter 11 cases, SVB Financial Group (in bankruptcy) in respect of its solar tax equity investments, the bank creditors in the global financial restructuring of Abengoa, and bank and ECA lenders in the restructuring of a European wind farm project
• HELLENiQ Energy in its proposed JV with RWE for offshore wind development*

Data Centers, Fiber, Digital Infrastructure

• Northleaf Capital Partners in the $815 million project financing of Tillman FloridaCo to support build-out of fiber networks in Florida
• CyrusOne Inc., a U.S. data center REIT, on its inaugural €500 million benchmark CSPP-eligible green-bond issuance*

LNG, Pipelines, Petchem

• The borrower in an approximately $1 billion project financing of a gas gathering and CCS project
• Golden Triangle Polymers Company, a joint venture between Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and QatarEnergy, in the project financing of an $8.5 billion integrated polymers facility in Orange, Texas*
• The project company and sponsors on a $2+ billion North American LNG project financing*
• The sponsors of Rovuma LNG on the proposed project financing of a $30 billion LNG liquefaction project in Mozambique*

Mining

• Centerra Gold, Inc. in its comprehensive settlement with the Government of Kyrgyzstan of outstanding claims regarding its seizure of the Kumtor gold mine project*
• A lithium producer on a lithium offtake arrangement with a major North American auto manufacturer; advice to several lithium producers on U.S. DOE funding and U.S. tax credits*
• Subsidiaries of First Quantum Minerals Ltd. in an agreement with the Government of Zambia to resolve matters involving the Kansanshi and Sentinel copper projects*
• Advice to a Canadian mining project on equity and debt financing and expansion matters*

Hydrogen, CCUS and Other Energy Transition

• Chevron U.S.A. Inc., through its Chevron New Energies division, in its acquisition of a controlling interest in the ACES Delta, LLC joint venture, which is developing a green hydrogen project in Utah financed by a Department of Energy loan guarantee*
• The borrower in an approximately $1 billion project financing of a gas gathering and CCS project
• Advice to a direct air capture (DAC) developer on bankability considerations for DAC projects*
• Structuring advice to an oil & gas major on a proposed U.S. clean ammonia, hydrogen and CCS JV*
• Advice to an auto manufacturer on RECs; a major investment bank on a proposed carbon credit-linked bond and a major industrial manufacturer on their proposed low carbon product certification*
• Debut ESG bonds and loans for Brazil, Colombia, CMPC, Jacobs Engineering, Coca-Cola HBC, CyrusOne Inc., Enbridge, Goldman Sachs, United Mexican States, Alibaba, Royal Philips, Cementos Argos, Cheniere Energy and Aflac*

*Matters prior to joining Kirkland

The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in drafting an ECOWAS directive on gender assessments for energy projects

Led trainings on project financing for government officials in Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia

Fair Trade USA on legal structures for certificate beneficiary (worker) committees

A local NGO supporting slum dwellers on slum redevelopment schemes in Nairobi, Kenya

An English charity on funding for its African forest protection activities

An English charity operating a forest protection scheme in Bolivia on its corporate reorganization