Dr. Carmen Schneider

Energy Law

Experience

Carmen Schneider has many years of experience in the energy industry. She advises energy suppliers, grid operators, investors, project developers, energy service providers and companies with high energy costs on energy law. With a focus on project developments in the field of renewable energies (in particular onshore and offshore wind, solar and decentralised generation models), she specialises in energy contract and energy regulation law as well as energy trading. She regularly speaks at professional events and publishes articles on energy law topics. Carmen Schneider is also member of the French Desk.

Her main areas of expertise include drafting and negotiating all types of contracts, e.g. PPAs, direct marketing contracts and other energy supply contracts, project and cooperation contracts, component supply contracts as well as service contracts. A further focus of Carmen Schneider's work is advising on grid connection issues, grid usage and resulting compensation claims, e.g. due to feed-in management/redispatch measures or according to Section 17e EnWG.

Carmen Schneider also advises in the rapidly developing areas of digitisation of the energy industry, e-mobility and hydrogen. Additionally, she provides accompanying advice in M&A transactions in the energy sector and represents her clients in (arbitration) court proceedings.

The US publishing house Best Lawyers lists Carmen Schneider amongst the best lawyers for energy law. She is recommended by name in the renowned JUVE Handbook for Commercial Lawyers and was recently recognized by the JUVE publishing house as one of the leading experts in the field of energy contract lawyers and PPA specialists.

Education

Carmen Schneider has been a partner and lawyer at Oppenhoff since 2022. She studied law at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen and at the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University in Bonn. She completed her doctorate on an energy law topic at the Institute for Mining and Energy Law at the Ruhr University in Bochum. Her comparative law dissertation project included a research stay at the Centre de Recherche en Economie et Droit de l'Energie in Montpellier, France. Before joining Oppenhoff, she was a partner at Chatham Partners and an associate partner at GÖRG.

Dr. Carmen Schneider

PartnerRechtsanwältin

Languages
German, English, French, Dutch

Am Sandtorkai 74
20457 Hamburg
T +49 (0) 40 808105 144
M +49 160 9303 5719

Business card

Books and Legal Commentaries

Beck’scher Online-Kommentar Energiesicherungsrecht [Beck’s online commentary of Energy security law]
Annotation to §§ 26-36 StromPBG, 4th edition, 2024, co-author, publisher: Gerstner/Gundel

Energy 2019 Seventh Edition: Germany Chapter
Global Legal Insights dated November 2018 (in collaboration with Felix Fischer und Dr. Joyce von Marschall)

The Energy Regulation and Markets Review - Germany Chapter in: The Law Reviews
dated 2013, p. 116 ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Achim Compes and Thoralf Herbold)

Netzzugangsregulierung auf dem Stromsektor in Deutschland und Frankreich – ein Vergleich, Bochumer Beiträge zum Berg- und Energierecht [Grid access regulation in the energy sector in Germany and France – a comparison]
Boorberg Verlag, Bd. 58 dated 2013

Articles and Essays

Wann ist eine Preisanpassung in Energielieferverträgen wirksam? [When is a price adjustment in energy supply contracts effective?]
Börsenzeitung dated 01 December 2022 (in collaboration with Friedrich von Bredow)

Notfallplan für Großverbraucher [Emergency plan for large-scale consumers]
Handelsblatt dated 06 September 2022, no. 172, p. 32

Kommerzielle Folgen des Redispatch 2.0 für die EEG-Direktvermarktung [Commercial consequences of Redispatch 2.0 for direct marketing under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act]
IR dated 2022, p. 2ff. (in collaboration with Felix Fischer and Philipp Reinecke)

Zur Erstattung von Ausgleichsenergiekosten in der Direktvermarktung [Reimbursement of imbalance energy in direct marketing]
EnWZ dated 2020, p. 299ff. (in collaboration with Mario Schliephake)

Zur eingeschränkten Geltung des Geheimwettbewerbs unter dem EEG 2017 [Limited applicability of the secrecy of competition under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act 2017]
EnWZ dated 2019, p. 339 ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Daisy Walzel)

Die Entschädigungsregelungen für Offshore-Windparks - Wohl durchdacht oder ein Millionengrab? [The compensation regulations for offshore windparks – well thought-through or a bottomless money pit?]
IR dated 2019, p. 170 ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Sven-Hendrik Schulze)

Corporate PPAs – Neues für die Erneuerbaren? (Teil 2) [Corporate PPAs – anything new for the renewables? (Part 2)]
IR dated 2019, p. 50ff. (in collaboration with Marieke Lüdecke)

Corporate PPAs – Neues für die Erneuerbaren? (Teil 1) [Corporate PPAs – anything new for the renewables? (Part 1)]
IR dated 2018, p. 209 ff. (in collaboration with Marieke Lüdecke)

Mieterstrom – Ein geeignetes Förderinstrument auch für das Vereinigte Königreich? [Tenants‘ electricity – a suitable state aid instrument also for the UK?]
BCCG – British Chamber of Commerce in Germany Bulletin Issue dated 2018

Fallstricke beim Contracting [Contracting pitfalls]
Energie & Management dated April 2017

Das Strommarktgesetz - ein Überblick [The German Electricity Market Act – an overview]
juris Praxisreport dated Juli 2016, Anm. 1

Rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen für Stromspeicher [Legal framework conditions for electricity storage facilities]
RdE dated 2016, p. 165 ff. (in collaboration with Thorsten Kirch)

Dezentrale Energieversorgung in der Wohnungswirtschaft (Teil 2) [Decentralised energy supply in the housing industry (Part 2)]
IR dated 2015, p. 221 ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Damian Tigges)

Dezentrale Energieversorgung in der Wohnungswirtschaft (Teil 1) [Decentralised energy supply in the housing industry (Part 1)]
IR dated 2015, p. 199 ff.

The forthcoming reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act – a paradigm shift?
Legal & Tax Newsletter (German American Chambers of Commerce), Vol. 1, p. 3-4

Unionsrechtliche Aspekte eines "EEG 2.0" [Union law aspects of a “German Renewable Energy Sources Act 2.0”]
RdE dated 2014, p. 101 ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Sabine Schulte-Beckhausen and Thorsten Kirch)

Die Netzanbindung von Offshore-Windparks – mehr Rechtssicherheit durch das Positionspapier? [The connection of offshore windparks to the grid – more legal certainty through the position paper?]
IR dated 2011, p. 146ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Achim Compes)

Aktuelle Probleme beim Netzanschluss von Offshore-Windparks [Current problems of connecting offshore windparks to the grid]
KSzW dated 2011, p. 277 ff. (in collaboration with Dr. Achim Compes)

Impulsvortrag: §17e EnWG: aktuelle Rechtsprechung zu Offshore-Windparks, WAB Legal Offshore Day (2023) [Keynote speech: Section 17e German Energy Management Law (EnWG): current case law on offshore wind farms, WAB Legal Offshore Day (2023)]

“The draft of the EU Commission’s Delegated Act on the definition of green hydrogen in the transport sector”; 3rd Hydrogen Industry Day, Gelsenkirchen (2023)

„WindSeeG 2023 – Wasserstoffproduktion auf See/ Kriterien für Ausschreibungen“, WAB Legal Offshore Day (2022) [„Wind Energy at Sea Act 2023 (WindSeeG 2023) – hydrogen production at sea/criteria for invitations to tender“, WAB Legal Offshore Day (2022)]

Impulsvortrag zum Energiefinanzierungsgesetz, 75. VIK Jahrestagung (2022) [Keynote speech on the German Energy Funding Act (EnFG), 75th VIK Annual Conference (2022)]

„Wie gestalte ich ein Hydrogen Purchase Agreement“ [How to structure a Hydrogen Purchase Agreement], 14. Branchentag Windenergie NRW, Gelsenkirchen (2022)

„Wie gestalte ich ein PPA“ [How to structure a PPA], 13. Branchentag Windenergie NRW, Gelsenkirchen (2021)

“How to structure a PPA in the current market environment”, WINDFORCE Conference 2020, Bremerhaven (2021)

„Wie gestalte ich ein PPA“ [How to structure a PPA], meetingpoint.energy (2021)

„Regulierung und Marktdesign von smart markets am Beispiel des Blockchain-basierten P2P-Handels“ [Regulation and market design of smart markets, using the example of blockchain-based P2P trade], Ringvorlesung Smart Markets, FH Aachen (2021)

„Digitale Infrastruktur für die Energiewende – der Werkstoff Blockchain“ [Digital infrastructure for the energy transition – using blockchains], EEHH-Webseminar "Rechtliche Aspekte der digitalen Energiewirtschaft“ (2021)

Panellist zum Thema „Differenzverträge - Hoffnungsschimmer für die Offshore-Branche oder Trugschluss?" [CFDs – a glimmer of hope for the offshore industry or a misconception?], EEHH-Webseminar, Episode 2, Offshore Wind Trends (2020)

“The compensation scheme for offshore windfarms”, WINDFORCE Conference 2020, Bremerhaven (2020)

Host and presenter of a PPA-Panel (web-seminar) with panellists from RWE Supply & Trading GmbH, Pexapark and Ørsted

„Corporate PPAs als Geschäftsmodell mit Potenzial – trotz Corona?“ [Corporate PPAs as a business model with potential – despite corona?], Cluster für Erneuerbare Energien Hamburg (EEHH), 2. Digitaler Treffpunkt Erneuerbare Energien Hamburg (2020)

„PPAs – Eine neue Vermarktungsoption für das Post-EEG-Zeitalter?“ [PPAs – a new marketing option for the post EEG era?], ErneuerbareEnergien.NRW – im Verbund erfolgreich, Wuppertal (2019)

“Blockchain in the energy sector – regulatory framework and future potential”, moinblockchain’19, Hamburg (2019)

„PPAs – kommerzieller Hype oder zentraler Treiber der nächsten Dekade?“ [PPAs – commercial hype or central driving force of the next decade?], Branchentag Windenergie NRW, Köln (2019)

“Blockchain in the energy sector – regulatory framework and future potential”, WINDFORCE Conference 2019, Bremerhaven (2019)

“PPAs – Commercial hype, legal solutions hands on examples for structuring offshore wind PPAs”,WINDFORCE Conference 2019, Bremerhaven (2019)

“Neue Spielfelder für den Kurzfristhandel –Rechtliche Herausforderungen des Algo-Tradings“ [New playing fields for short-term trading – legal challenges of algo trading], 12. Euroforum-Konferenz, Berlin (2019)

„Wesentliche Neuerungen im Energiewirtschaftsrecht“ [Significant innovations in energy management law], 66. Treffen IBA/SEERIL, Düsseldorf (2019)

„Die rechtlichen Grundlagen des Intraday-Handels“ [The legal bases of intraday trading], 2. Euroforum-Konferenz, Düsseldorf (2018)

“Blockchain in the energy sector – status update regarding the legal and regulatory framework”, ProCom Energiemarkt-Tage, Berlin (2018)

„PPAs – Stein der Weisen für Erneuerbare-Energien-Anlagen außerhalb des EEG-Förderrahmens?“ [PPAs – the philosopher’s stone for renewable energy plants outside the framework of state aid under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act?], 27. Windenergietage, Linstow (2018)

„Blockchain in der Energiewirtschaft – Status Update zum rechtlichen und regulatorischen Rahmen“ [Blockchain in the energy sector – status update regarding the legal and regulatory framework], Branchentag Windenergie NRW, Düsseldorf (2018)

„Blockchain in der Energiewirtschaft – Status-Update rechtlicher und regulatorischer Rahmen“ [Blockchain in the energy sector – status update regarding the legal and regulatory framework], Workshop ICM, Intersolar 2018, München (2018)

„Revival der Langfristverträge? PPAs und Co.“ [Revival of long-term contracts? PPAs & Co.], 7. Strommarkt Symposium, Berlin (2018)

Event Horizon 2018, Panellist zum Thema “Blockchain in the energy sector“ [The Global Summit on Blockchain Technology in the Energy Sector], Berlin (2018)

Panellist zum Thema „Blockchain for energy systems“, 4th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, Auswärtiges Amt, Berlin (2018)