Energy Partner Giji John Moves to Singapore as Orrick Focuses on Southeast Asia

• Giji John, a member of the firm’s Management Committee, is relocating from Houston to Singapore on August 1^st to focus on growing Orrick’s Singapore office in Energy & Infrastructure and other strategic sectors.
• A leading advisor in renewable energy and energy transition, Giji has deep experience working on the development and financing of wind, solar, battery and green molecule projects. He will continue his active practice in the US and bring state-of-the-market intelligence developed in the firm’s US practice to the Asian market.
• Giji’s addition complements the existing team of Singapore Office Leader Karthik Kumar, who joined from Jones Day in 2022, and Jon Thursby, who collaborates closely with the firm’s London E&I team, with whom he joined in 2021.
• Orrick’s Singapore team collaborates with the firm’s global E&I team and works particularly closely with firm’s Tokyo E&I team, which advises on outbound investment in the region and globally. Orrick ranked top 3 globally for both renewables and infrastructure in 2022 (Inspiratia).
• Orrick has one of the leading global offshore wind platforms and has led the development of this technology in Asia, including advising on the US$1.6bn Project Financing of the 298MW Zhong Neng Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan, which was awarded Deal of the Year for 2022 by IJ Global, as well as the US$3bn project financing of the Changfang and Xidao Taiwanese offshore wind project, which won the same award in 2020.
• The firm also ranked No. 1 by deal count in the emerging field of Asia Pacific PPA in 2022, including advising Vibrant Energy on its guarantee facilities in connection with the company’s solar and wind projects in India, including supplying up to 300MW worth of wind and solar power purchase agreements to Amazon.

Orrick Energy & Infrastructure Sector Leader Blake H. Winburne explained the strategy behind the move: “One of the top concerns for executives at almost every major company today is managing risks associated with the environmental impacts of their supply chains and operations. Giji has been advising clients on achieving their sustainability goals using innovative, first-of-kind contractual structures since the first corporate PPAs hit the US market more than a decade ago. With the increasing importance of Singapore as a transactional hub for the Asia Pacific region, we are thrilled to have Giji bring the breadth of his experience to the market, joining Orrick’s exceptional and growing team of energy and infrastructure lawyers in Singapore.”

Giji added, “The Asia-Pacific region continues to set and pursue ambitious energy transition goals. Not only is APAC incorporating ‘conventional’ renewable energy technologies such as onshore and offshore wind, onshore solar and battery storage, but it is increasingly being eyed as a destination for green hydrogen and green ammonia. I can’t imagine a better time to be in the region, working with our Singapore- and Tokyo-based teams to assist our global clients.”

Giji has previous experience working in the region while on secondment to the International Finance Corporation (part of the The World Bank Group), leading energy and infrastructure deals in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. He is recognized by Chambers Global and Chambers USA as a leading lawyer for Renewables & Alternative Energy, by Lawdragon 500 for ESG and Energy in its 2023 Leading Energy Lawyers list and was named to A Word About Wind’s Top 100 Legal Power List for 2022. He was a founding member of Orrick’s Houston office in 2016.

The firm’s U.S. practice is recognized by Chambers Global as Band 1 in four nationwide categories: Energy Transition, Renewables, Power and PPP. Orrick has also been recognized as Project Finance Practice Group of the Year (Law360) eight times, including in 2022.