Nike O. Opadiran

Counsel, Energy and Infrastructure Projects

Nike O. Opadiran concentrates her practice on the development, tax equity and debt financing, acquisition and divestiture of energy and infrastructure-related projects. She is experienced in drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, financing and collateral agreements, power purchase agreements, transmission service agreements and ownership agreements.

Bio

Ms. Opadiran’s representative matters have included:

  • ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity firm, in its acquisition and acquisition financing of a portfolio of 18 renewable energy projects and the subsequent sale of a tax equity stake and a minority equity stake in a subset of that portfolio;
  • Ardian Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm, in a partnership with Transatlantic Power Holdings to form Skyline Renewables, which focused on acquiring, operating and developing up to 3 GW of wind projects in the United States;
  • a fund of BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. in the acquisition of a 90 percent stake in CWS Wind Farm, LLC, a 30.75 MW wind farm located in Minnesota, and in the sale of a tax equity stake in CWS Wind Farm to a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp;
  • Centaurus Renewable Energy, Inc. in the sale of a tax equity stake in a 9 MW PV solar generating facility located in Indiana to a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp;
  • Deepwater Wind LLC in the negotiation of a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Long Island Power Authority for the 90 MW South Fork offshore wind project, which will be the second-ever offshore wind farm in the United States;
  • a developer in the preparation of a form virtual power purchase agreement;
  • the developer in a sale-leaseback tax equity transaction with respect to a portfolio of commercial distributed generation solar PV projects located on municipality-owned sites in Massachusetts;
  • a leading developer in its sale of a $400 million tax equity stake in a portfolio of wind projects in the United States;
  • a leading financial institution in a $400 million tax equity investment in a portfolio of wind projects in the United States;
  • First Solar, Inc. in:
    • connection with its tax equity financing of the Kingbird project, a 40 MW PV solar power plant in Kern County, California;
    • the $1.74 billion financing and sale of the 550 MW Desert Sunlight solar PV project, one of the two largest solar PV projects in the world; and
    • the financing of the ABW Solar Projects, a cluster of three solar PV power projects located in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with approximately 50 MW of nameplate capacity;
  • a Fortune 500 company in the negotiation of virtual power purchase agreements for 1.3 million MWh/year of solar and wind energy in the United States;
  • Hudson Transmission Partners, LLC in the $850 million construction financing of a 660 MW underwater transmission line connecting New Jersey to Manhattan;
  • Hydro-Québec in connection with:
    • its winning bid in a Massachusetts clean energy request for proposal, including negotiating three 20-year power purchase agreements for 100 percent hydro power to be transmitted over the New England Clean Energy Connect, a new transmission line to be developed by Central Maine Power Company, a subsidiary of Avangrid;
    • its sale of the Bucksport co-generation power plant to Verso Bucksport LLC; and
    • the negotiation of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Public Service Company of New Hampshire;
  • Intel in connection with a first-of-its-kind $30 billion joint investment arrangement with Brookfield relating to two new chip factories in Arizona;
  • InterGen N.V. in the $1.8 billion refinancing of its debt and credit facilities, which consisted of a five-year revolving credit facility (including a $350 million tranche and a £100 million tranche), seven-year $300 million senior secured term loan B, eight-year £175 million senior secured notes and 10-year $750 million senior secured notes. As part of this transaction, InterGen’s shareholders contributed $700 million of new equity;
  • the lenders in the acquisition financing of a 1,175 MW portfolio of natural gas-fired generating assets located in California and Alabama;
  • a multinational corporation in the negotiation of a virtual power purchase agreement in respect of a 150 MW solar project in the United States;
  • the state of New Jersey in its development of a $35 billion public-private partnership transaction for the state’s toll roads;
  • Samchully Asset Management Co. Ltd. in its acquisition and secured hedge of a $170 million interest in the Neptune gas processing plant in Louisiana from Marathon Oil Company;
  • SunEdison, Inc. and its affiliates in the:
    • development, construction, $50 million debt financing by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and sale of a 20.6 MW DC solar power plant in the Ma’an governorate in southern Jordan;
    • sale of 81.7 MW solar photovoltaic power plants in the Republic of Honduras;
    • sale of the Rocksprings wind project; and
    • sales of multiple wind turbines and related equipment;
  • the U.S. Department of Transportation, as lender under the TIFIA program, in connection with following projects:
    • Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (Silver Line Phase 2);
    • Downtown Crossing portion of the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project; and
    • Chicago O’Hare International Airport consolidated rental car facility;
  • Wisconsin Public Service Corporation in its negotiation of a joint ownership agreement and operating and maintenance agreement in connection with its joint acquisition with Madison Gas and Electric Company and Wisconsin Power and Light Company of Forward Energy Center, a 129 MW wind generation facility in Dodge and Fon du Lac counties, Wisconsin;
  • a U.S. utility in the negotiation of solar and wind power purchase agreements and renewable energy credit agreements;
  • a U.S. utility in the negotiation of a shared use agreement for the joint use of a radial line and associated facilities; and
  • Ygrene Energy Fund in connection with a $25 million secured revolving credit facility relating to residential property assessed clean energy assets.

Ms. Opadiran has been repeatedly named a Rising Star by IFLR1000, including in 2022.

Credentials

Education

  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 2007
  • B.S., University of Waterloo, 2003 (with distinction)

Admissions

  • New York
  • District of Columbia

Nike O. Opadiran

Counsel, Energy and Infrastructure Projects
nike.opadiran@skadden.com