Over the course of three special interviews, we’ve taken a trip around the globe to analyse the status of the offshore wind sector in three key regions; North America, Europe and Southeast Asia.

In today’s interview, Yash Shah, Head of Renewables and Sustainable Energy Structured Finance Department Asia at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, joined Karthik Kumar, Partner at Orrick to consider the dynamics for offshore wind in key Asian markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam; and how power purchase agreements are evolving.

Orrick’s 2024 Global Offshore Wind Report

This year is set to be the busiest ever for offshore wind, with over 20 auction processes expected globally.

That’s just one of several factors in our review of offshore wind in more than 25 countries that provide reasons for optimism in the sector’s future despite challenges in the last year.

Read Orrick’s 2024 Global Offshore Wind Report

Karthik Kumar, Partner at Orrick

Karthik has a strong focus on the renewable energy sector with extensive experience in solar, onshore and offshore wind, biomass, and waste-to-energy projects across the region. Karthik is highly regarded in the market for his in-depth regulatory knowledge and significant transactional experience. Clients laud him for his commercial approach and deep regional background.

He has extensive experience advising developers, sponsors, borrowers and financial institutions, including banks and multilateral lending institutions, on a wide range of renewable energy projects in jurisdictions such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, China and Australia.

Karthik is a top-ranked lawyer in the Chambers Global and Asia Pacific directories as well as by Legal 500 and India Business Law Journal. Clients describe him as a “top-notch lawyer” and is “known for his project finance capabilities, particularly in the renewable energy segment.” They also note that he “deeply understands the business needs and stakeholder expectations and has time and again proven to have our 100% confidence in his counsel.” Clients extol his India-focused project finance practice, commending him for his “second to none” knowledge of Indian law and practice and noting a particular acquisition of an Indian company where “his ability to understand unique local issues” was “amazing.”

Yash Shah Senior, Head of Renewables and Sustainable Energy Structured Finance Department Asia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Yash has over 15 years of financial advisory, loan structuring and arranging experience with expertise in Renewables, Power and Infrastructure. Advised and financed over 60 transactions with combined capacity of over 25 GW+ and totalling over USD 30bn of financing. Currently, he is the Head of Renewables & Sustainable Energy Group Asia for SMBC overseeing Renewables advisory and financing in Asia (ex Japan and Australia) and has been instrumental in the award-winning Structured Finance franchisee of SMBC.

Learn about growing trends and what’s next in Orrick’s 2024 Global Offshore Wind Report.