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Appendix 1

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The Energy Regulation

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Acknowledgements

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Editor’s Preface ..................................................................................................viiDavid L Schwartz

Chapter 1 OVERVIEW OF CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA ................1Pascal Agboyibor, Bruno Gay and Gabin Gabas

Chapter 2 ANGOLA .................................................................................19Catarina Levy Osório and Helena Prata

Chapter 3 AUSTRALIA .............................................................................35Mark Carkeet, Andrew Brookes and Darshini Nanthakumar

Chapter 4 BRAZIL ....................................................................................55Guilherme Guerra D’Arriaga Schmidt

Chapter 5 CANADA .................................................................................68Patrick Du!y, Brad Grant, Erik Richer La Flèche and Glenn Zacher

Chapter 6 COLOMBIA.............................................................................85Patricia Arrázola-Bustillo and Fabio Ardila

Chapter 7 CYPRUS ...................................................................................97Michael Damianos and Electra "eodorou

Chapter 8 DENMARK ............................................................................107Nicolaj Kleist and Morten Ruben Brage

Chapter 9 ECUADOR ............................................................................118Jorge Paz Durini, Daniel Robalino, Leyre Suárez and Rafael Valdivieso

CONTENTS

iv

Contents

Chapter 10 EGYPT ...................................................................................127Bassam Moussa and Mariam Fahmy

Chapter 11 FRANCE ................................................................................137Fabrice Fages and Myria Saarinen

Chapter 12 GERMANY ............................................................................150Kai Pritzsche, Sebastian Pooschke, Henry Hoda

Chapter 13 GHANA ..................................................................................162Emmanuel Sekor and Enyonam Dedey-Oke

Chapter 14 INDIA ....................................................................................175Akshay Jaitly, Sitesh Mukherjee, Neeraj Menon and Rashi Ahooja

Chapter 15 INDONESIA ..........................................................................188Mochamad Kasmali

Chapter 16 ITALY .....................................................................................203Simone Monesi, Piero Viganò and Giovanni Penzo

Chapter 17 JAPAN ....................................................................................220Reiji Takahashi, Atsutoshi Maeda, Shun Hirota, Yuko Suzuki and Masato Sugihiro

Chapter 18 KENYA ...................................................................................233Albert Mumma

Chapter 19 KOREA ...................................................................................248Wonil Kim and Kwang-Wook Lee

Chapter 20 MALAYSIA .............................................................................264Lukman Sheri! Alias

Chapter 21 MEXICO ................................................................................273Gonzalo A Vargas

v

Contents

Chapter 22 MOZAMBIQUE ....................................................................285Fabrícia de Almeida Henriques and Paula Duarte Rocha

Chapter 23 NAMIBIA ...............................................................................296Axel Stritter

Chapter 24 NETHERLANDS ..................................................................315Louis Bouchez and Maurits Bos

Chapter 25 NEW ZEALAND ...................................................................325Mei Fern Johnson and Nicola Purvis

Chapter 26 NIGERIA ................................................................................338Ken Etim and Ayodele Oni

Chapter 27 NORWAY ...............................................................................352Per Conradi Andersen and Christian Poulsson

Chapter 28 PHILIPPINES ........................................................................362Monalisa C Dimalanta and Najha Katrina J Estrella

Chapter 29 POLAND ...............................................................................377Krzysztof Cichocki and Tomasz M#odawski

Chapter 30 PORTUGAL ...........................................................................390Nuno Galvão Teles and Ricardo Andrade Amaro

Chapter 31 ROMANIA .............................................................................403Lucian Caruceriu and Anca Mitocaru

Chapter 32 SPAIN .....................................................................................415Antonio Morales

Chapter 33 SWEDEN ...............................................................................428Hans Andréasson, Martin Gynnerstedt and Malin Håkansson

Contents

vi

Chapter 34 SWITZERLAND ...................................................................440Georges P Racine

Chapter 35 TURKEY ................................................................................452Okan Demirkan, Zeynep Buharalı and Burak Eryi$it

Chapter 36 UKRAINE ..............................................................................468Wolfram Rehbock and Maryna Ilchuk

Chapter 37 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES .................................................486Masood Afridi and Haroon Baryalay

Chapter 38 UNITED KINGDOM ...........................................................507Elisabeth Blunsdon

Chapter 39 UNITED STATES .................................................................524Michael J Gergen, Natasha Gianvecchio, Kenneth M Simon and David L Schwartz

Chapter 40 UZBEKISTAN .......................................................................541Eldor Mannopov, Shuhrat Yunusov, Anna Snejkova and Ulugbek Abdullaev

Appendix 1 ABOUT THE AUTHORS .....................................................551

Appendix 2 CONTRIBUTING LAW FIRMS’ CONTACT DETAILS .. 577

vii

EDITOR’S PREFACE

Our third year of writing and publishing !e Energy Regulation and Markets Review has been marked by an increase in exploration and production of petroleum products and natural gas, investment in energy infrastructure, renewable resource development, competitive market developments in the electricity industry, privatisation of state-owned energy companies, and Chinese state-owned investment. We have also seen decreases in rate/tari! de"ciencies and hydroelectric generation productivity in certain low-rainfall regions, as well as an e!ort to reduce reliance on nuclear generation.

From a supply perspective, upstream oil and natural gas exploration, development and production has continued to grow in North America. Canada continues to look for export opportunities, the United States is continuing to consider export authorisations, and Mexico is constructing natural gas pipelines to import low-cost natural gas from the United States. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, some countries, including Germany, Switzerland, France, Japan and Korea, are seeking to reduce their current reliance on nuclear generation. Certain countries, such as the United States and Denmark, have also witnessed extensive retirements of coal-"red generation facilities, owing to greenhouse gas emissions targets and comparisons with the cost of natural gas. At the same time, other countries (including Malaysia, India and Indonesia) are continuing to develop coal generation resources due to signi"cant electricity generation needs that require fuel source diversi"cation. We have also seen increases in renewable generation development e!orts (including in Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Kenya, Australia, India, Japan and Malaysia), while many other countries in Europe and North America have reduced subsidies for renewable resource development.

From a demand perspective, we are seeing noteworthy reductions in demand in some countries, owing to the residual e!ects of the global "nancial crisis, while we are witnessing signi"cant demand growth in other countries, including Indonesia, Turkey and Angola.

From a market and rate perspective, we are observing substantial e!orts to reduce rate/tari! de"ciencies. Many countries have fully liberalised their generation markets, while others are heading towards a competitive market model. #ere are

Editor’s Preface

viii

continued e!orts to develop competitive electricity markets for energy and capacity, and some countries have developed e!ective carbon pricing mechanisms. We have seen an increase in privatisations of state-owned energy companies, including in Turkey, Cyprus, New Zealand and Nigeria. Chinese state-owned companies have acquired interests in utilities in Australia (State Grid acquisition of signi"cant shares of two Australian utility companies) and Mozambique (China National Petroleum acquired certain o!shore gas rights).

Natural disasters and political strife continue to impair the ability to provide reliable energy services, as evidenced by the impacts of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the continued unrest in Ukraine. On the other hand, a lack of political strife has contributed to signi"cant development of the energy industry in other countries, such as Angola, which has seen increased capital investment, including in oil exploration and production.

I would like to thank all the authors for their thoughtful consideration of these di$cult challenges. We look forward to identifying possible mechanisms to resolve the many issues and concerns discussed in these chapters.

David L SchwartzLatham & Watkins LLPWashington, DCJune 2014

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Chapter 9

ECUADOR

Jorge Paz Durini, Daniel Robalino, Leyre Suárez and Rafael Valdivieso1

I OVERVIEW

Until 1963, electric power systems in Ecuador were dispersed throughout the country. Local entities developed and administered the !rst systems through local companies that generated and distributed electricity, while the principal shareholders were municipal governments.

In 1963 the state created the Ecuadorean Electri!cation Institute (INECEL), a government entity with administrative and !nancial autonomy. "e board of directors was formed mostly from representatives of the central government and ministers and other government functionaries. "e INECEL consolidated 21 electrical distribution corporations, including the two companies that delivered to the largest markets: the Quito Electric Company Inc, serving 22.9 per cent of the market, and EMELEC, now operating as Guayaquil Electric Company Ep, and serving 23.9 per cent.

Up until 1999, the INECEL built and operated central generators with a total 1,934MW of installed power. It built the National Transmission System, which currently comprises the national network and allows for integration of all distribution companies. "e structure of the electric sector, as an integrated and vertical state monopoly, did not permit the sale of energy to !nal consumers at rates that would cover the costs of production, transportation and distribution of energy; therefore, the INECEL was selling energy at prices lower than actual cost. "e di#erence should have been compensated for by the state through direct or indirect subsidies. "is a#ected the economic balance of

1 Jorge Paz Durini is a partner, and Daniel Robalino, Leyre Suárez and Rafael Valdivieso are associates at Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés Attorneys at Law. "e authors would also like to thank Anne-Marie Robinson, a graduate of Birmingham Law School at the University of Birmingham, for her assistance on the chapter.

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both the INECEL and the state, which did not have the necessary resources to cover the rate de!cit or to develop new projects.

"e state decided to transform the electric sector in response to this situation, which was widely criticised during the early 1990s. It made an attempt to break the monopoly and provide the private sector with opportunities to develop generation, transmission and distribution activities under a system of free trade and free competition.

In 2007, Ecuador created the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (the Ministry). In 2008, through Mandate No. 15, it established a single rate for distributors, eliminated the concept of marginal cost and consolidated 19 distributors into one single entity. "e mandate was carried out through the creation of the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC EP) and the National Electricity Corporation, which encompass energy distribution companies. "e new market structure was con!gured based on these dispositions and entering into regulated agreements.

"e Ecuadorean Constitution of 2008 considers the electricity sector as ‘strategic’. As such, the government is currently developing an important programme to expand the generation capacity (by over 60 per cent of the current installed capacity), paying special attention to renewable energy projects, including wind, solar and hydroelectric energy. "e development and health of the Ecuadorean electricity market has encouraged foreign investment in the sector, and there are currently a number of diverse projects with concessions to private generators.

II REGULATION

i !e regulators "e main regulatory body for the electricity sector in Ecuador is the National Electricity Council (CONELEC), which regulates and controls all areas of the electricity sector. Alongside CONELEC, the Ministry is the public body representing the executive in the electricity sector in compliance with the Electri!cation Master Plan. "ere are other private and public bodies that make up the energy sector, such as the state-owned CELEC EP and the National Centre for Energy Control (CENACE). "ese bodies have a lot of in$uence in the sector but no regulatory powers as such.

CONELEC is in charge of the overall regulation and control of the electricity sector.2 It is the main regulatory body for all the delegated activities in Ecuador, such as the generation, transmission and distribution of energy. To generate electricity in Ecuador, the interested entity must obtain a permit or licence from CONELEC. "e transmission and distribution of energy are reserved exclusively to the state through state-owned companies.

As per the provisions in the main regulation governing the sector, CONELEC has the following main powers and duties:3

2 Article 12 of the Law on the Electricity Sector Regime (LESR), published in the Supplement of the O%cial Gazette No. 43, 10 October 1996; Article 13 of the Regulation on the LESR; and Article 11 of Executive Decree No. 1274.

3 See Article 13 of the LESR.

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a regulating the public sector and supervising compliance with the legal provisions;b drafting the Electri!cation Master Plan in order to guarantee the supply of

electricity;c approving the rates for transmission and distribution;d issuing regulations for all the areas regarding the environment, techniques,

procedures, control and other relevant areas;e developing tender documents for generation, transmission and distribution

contracts; andf granting permits and licences for the construction and operation of new generation

facilities.

"e Ministry is in charge of general policymaking and planning for the electricity sector.4 It oversees and supervises the other actors in the sector (CONELEC and its agencies). Furthermore, the Ministry is in charge of developing the Electri!cation Master Plan (along with CONELEC), as well as the development of other related national policies.

"e CENACE is a non-pro!t corporation that controls the supply of electricity in the country.5 It regulates the functioning of the National Interconnected System (SNI). All transmission, generation and distribution bodies (private or public) are members of the CENACE, as are the major consumers. As mentioned above, the CENACE does not have regulatory powers, but it is a very important participant in the Ecuadorean electricity sector since it is the only body that decides which generators go online.

CELEC EP is the state-owned company created as a result of the merger of Electroguayas SA, Hidroagoyan SA, Hidropaute SA, Termoesmeraldas SA, Termopichincha SA and Transelectric SA (all of which were state generators). As a result of the merger, the CELEC EP is the main generator of electricity in Ecuador.

"e main legislation regulating the electricity sector is the LESR, which was enacted in 1996. It contains several provisions to regulate every segment of the electricity sector, such as generation, transmission, distribution and commercialisation. "e LESR also created CONELEC, the main regulatory body. Under the provisions of the LESR, CONELEC issues regulations regarding the di#erent areas of the electricity industry in Ecuador, including authorisations and licences for such activities.

Furthermore, in 2006 the Regulation for the application of the LESR was enacted in order to establish speci!c provisions and procedures regarding the provision of services in di#erent areas of the electricity sector, as well as any other relevant regulations, such as rates, operative regulations and contractual regulations.

"ere are also many speci!c regulations issued by CONELEC regarding rates, procedures and other relevant issues such as licensing for generation. Since 2013 there have been few regulations issued by the CONELEC. "e most important regulation (No. 001-13) is related to renewable energy (see Section V, infra).

4 Article 5-A of the LESR and Article 12 of the Regulation on the LESR.5 See Ministry Agreement No. 151, dated 27 October 2008.

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ii Regulated activities "e rights to carry out the main activities in the electricity sector (generation, transmission, distribution and commercialisation) fall exclusively to the state, since they are classi!ed as public services. Exceptionally, these activities may be delegated to private entities through a granting instrument after completion of the corresponding quali!cation and licensing processes; however, currently only generation activities are delegated to private entities, and transmission, distribution and commercialisation remain controlled by the state.

Private generation organisations need to enter into contracts (power purchase agreements, or ‘PPAs’) with distributors (with prior authorisation from CONELEC) in order to sell the electricity generated. In addition, the connection to the SNI must be authorised by CONELEC, and a rate will be set for the transmission of the energy.

For private generators, the type of licence or permit required will depend on the power to be generated. A concession is granted for more than 50MW, an authorisation for less than 50MW6 and a registration for less than 1MW.7 Furthermore, in order to execute PPAs with authorised distributors or interconnection agreements with transmission entities, CONELEC must grant an authorisation to the private entity to do so. "e process for these approvals will depend on the type of generator and the speci!c (environmental, !nancial and contractual) characteristics of each request.

iii Ownership and market access restrictionsAs previously mentioned, all areas of the electricity industry are public services; therefore, the state is in charge of their management, control and regulation as well as their provision. Currently, the state only allows private entities to participate in generation activities.

Local or foreign investors may own private entities; there is no restriction to foreign ownership pursuant to the provisions of the LESR.8 Any form of association or joint venture is permitted, but all activities and permits must be held and maintained via a local corporation.

Any assets, equipment and materials that are used for such activities are requisitioned to the public service,9 and so may not be removed without prior authorisation from CONELEC. At the end of the licence term, all assets will be transferred free of charge to the state.

iv Transfers of control and assignments Pursuant to Article 87 of Executive Decree No. 1,247, the holders of a concession contract may not transfer or assign the rights in the contract without express prior authorisation from CONELEC. Although there is no speci!c regulation regarding the merger or acquisition of a licence or permit holder, the provision of the aforementioned Executive

6 See Executive Decree 1,274 dated 3 April 1998.7 See Regulation No. 009/08 regarding the Registry of Generators under 1MW.8 Article 29 of the LESR.9 Article 6 of the LESR.

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Decree states that any act or transfer under any title that has an e#ect on the terms of the granting instrument will be considered as an unauthorised transfer, and so CONELEC may unilaterally terminate the concession. "erefore, it should be understood that the same principle of prior authorisation applies to any merger or share acquisition.

In order for the assignment process to be successful, the assignee should !le documents to demonstrate its !nancial and technical capabilities to continue with the proposed operation; these documents form the legal basis on which CONELEC will issue the approval for such assignment.

III TRANSMISSION/TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES

i Vertical integration and unbundlingUnder Ecuadorean law, electricity, gas and oil are the property of the state and, exceptionally, these activities can be delegated to a private initiative. Electricity and gas are highly regulated industries, controlled by public bodies.

ElectricityAs described in Section I, the electricity industry was vertically integrated until the 1990s as a state monopoly. "is structure caused signi!cant economic problems, as the rates charged were insu%cient to cover production costs. "e Ecuadorean government therefore decided to open up the industry and allow private companies to invest and provide services.10

Currently, the electricity market is made up of three principal activities – generation, distribution and transmission – and there are two main regulatory entities: CONELEC and the CENACE. "e actors in the industry are separate entities and may only carry out one activity. Both private and public organisations can be generators. Distributors are state-owned companies that operate in a speci!c geographical area, and transmission is a natural monopoly of the state.

Gas"e gas and oil industries are usually linked, and in many cases the holders of oil contracts can obtain a permit to exploit gas. Activities in this industry are divided into production (companies exploiting natural gas), storage, transportation and distribution. Actors in the gas industry can exercise all the activities described herein, together or independently. However, Petroecuador EP, a state-owned company that integrates its activities vertically, has a monopoly on the transportation of gas through a gas pipeline network.

Private companies produce liquid gas (LPG) for domestic markets, and this is the principal source of energy for domestic use (stoves and water heaters). Natural gas is used in a few generation plants, mainly owned and operated by state-owned entities.

10 CONELEC, ‘Closing of Accounts of the Wholesale Electricity Market, Period 1999–2003’, December 2004.

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ii Transmission/transportation and distribution accessEcuadorean legislation grants transmission and distribution access subject to certain conditions. Pursuant to Article 33 of the LESR, distributors and transmission operators are obliged to provide non-discriminatory access to third parties to their facilities in exchange for a tari#. "is access includes the transformation of energy.

As previously mentioned, electricity transmission is a natural monopoly controlled by the state through the SNI, which comprises transmission lines and the corresponding interconnection modules. Once the energy enters into this system, the CENACE measures the generation and consumption of energy in order to determine the fee.

Distribution activities, on the other hand, are divided into speci!c territories, where distributors have exclusive rights to sell the electricity to !nal consumers. All producers should execute PPAs with distributors in order to sell their energy and have a preferential order in the payment of the energy sold. Major consumers can enter into direct PPA with private generators, so a private generator may produce electricity solely for a major consumer, but the tari# for the use of the SNI must still be determined and paid.

"e Ecuadorean government takes a strong position on encouraging competition in the electricity sector. In 2001, an antitrust regulation was enacted in order to avoid private monopolies,11 and this has played an important role in the opening up of the electricity sector. Pursuant to Article 31, no person or entity can control more than 25 per cent of the electricity generating market; however, these provisions are not applicable to existing state generating companies, only private generators.

iii Terminalling, processing and treatment According to Regulation of Law No. 85, which amends the Hydrocarbons Law, the storage, transportation and distribution of natural gas is regulated under INEN norms.12 In addition, there are various international standards that must be achieved, which are provided by the American Petroleum Institute and other international institutions. "e Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural Resources and the National Hydrocarbon Regulation Agency control these activities, in which private entities may participate.

iv Rates"e provisions that regulate fees have been subject to many changes in recent years. Each year, CONELEC establishes !xed rates for distributors to sell the electricity to the !nal consumers. CONELEC also establishes the rates for distributors for access to the transmission system, taking into account energy and the power losses.13

11 Antitrust Regulation for Electricity Sector Activities, published in the O%cial Gazette No. 408, 10 September 2001.

12 Ecuadorean Technical Standards Catalogue, in alphabetical order; www.inen.gob.ec/images/pdf/catalogos/alfabetico2013.pdf.

13 Legislative Decree No. 15, published in the Supplement of the O%cial Gazette No. 393, 31 July 2008; CONELEC Regulation No. 006/08, 12 August 2008.

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Producers and distributors, producers and major consumers, and distributors and major consumers may enter into PPAs, negotiating and freely determining the price of the electricity. "ere used to be an exception for non-conventional energies generators, who used to have a legal assurance of a !xed premium price for up to 15 years, pursuant Regulation No. CONELEC-004/11. Regulation   No. CONELEC–001/13 derogated Regulation No. CONELEC-004/11 and established preferential rates only for biomass and biogas generators. However, Photovoltaic generators that entered into a generation agreement before CONELEC 001/13 remain with the preferential fee established in regulation CONELEC 004/11.

"e CENACE measures the energy distributed, the transmission rates and the costs, and determines under the PPAs, if applicable, the price that each producer should receive in relation to the dispatch and sale of energy.

"e payment system encourages e%ciency and cost reduction by establishing priorities in the payments; producers that produce the most expensive energy are at the bottom of the priority order and receive payment last. Since payment through trust funds was recently eliminated, the generators are currently receiving a direct payment from the distributors. It can be presumed that this measure equates to the stability of the market and the possibility of the distributors to pay for the energy supplied.

IV ENERGY MARKETS

i Development of energy markets Please see Section I, supra.

ii Energy market rules and regulationEcuadorean legislation provides three market types for generators.

Short-term market or spot marketIn setting short-term prices that imply an economic dispatch, operating over expenditures of the generating units is not considered. "is formula utilises variable and audited costs of thermal power stations. "e short-term price re$ects the highest variable price of the units released.

Currently the short-term market is only applicable to international electricity transactions, as the national market functions only under regulated agreements.

Long-term market for regulated clientsGenerators that operate in the national system have entered into regulated agreements (PPAs) with the distribution companies. Private generation companies negotiate the sales price, which establishes two elements: a a !xed charge, which is independently liquidated if the generator is or is not

released, if and when it maintains available capacity. "e determination of the !xed charged takes into consideration the costs of recouping investments, such as those related to administration, operation and maintenance; and

b a variable charge or production cost that is liquidated in accordance with the measured electric energy production.

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Generation market for free clients Generators are permitted to sell energy in bulk consumer market. Bulk consumers are those that demand a monthly average at or above 650kW or a minimum annual energy consumption of 4,500MWh.

Bulk consumers may enter into transactions in the market through free agreements with generators.

V RENEWABLE ENERGY AND CONSERVATION

i Development of renewable energy"e development of renewable energy in Ecuador from non-conventional14 resources is very recent, but there is already a well-established infrastructure of hydroelectric projects that generate approximately 11,100GWh (2013).15 "is source of energy is the most common in Ecuador due to the geological distribution of water currents and the high cost and investments required for other renewable resource energy generators.

In 2011, CONELEC issued Regulation No. 04-11, which established preferential rates and tax bene!ts for generation from non-conventional resources. In December 2012,16 CONELEC issued Regulation 07-12, which amended Regulation No. 04-11, in which preferential rates were established for electric generation of wind power, photovoltaic, solar thermoelectric, marine currents, biomass and biogas and geothermal. However, on 13 March 2014, CONELEC issued Resolution No. 01-13 which repealed Resolution No. 04-11 eliminating preferential rates for most forms of renewable energy projects. With Resolution No. 01-13, preferential rates for non-conventional energy generation were eliminated both in the continental and insular region of Ecuador.17

ii Technological developments In the past couple of years, photovoltaic and wind power generation projects have begun in Ecuador; these are the newest clean generation units, which are of particular interest in areas such as the Galapagos Islands, where there is no other available source of energy generation other than diesel generators.

VI THE YEAR IN REVIEW

"e Ecuadorean government has attempted to promote changes in the energy matrix, which up to now has been almost entirely oil-based. "e Ministry of Electricity and

14 Non-conventional resources are de!ned as those used for the generation of energy through aeolic, biomass, biogas, photovoltaic, geothermal and other resources of similar characteristics. See Article 76 of the Regulation of the LESR and Article 63 of the LESR.

15 www.conelec.gob.ec/enlaces_externos.php?l=1&cd_menu=4223,.16 1 December 2012.17 Prefential rates are still available for biomass (US$9.67/US$10.64) and biogas (US$7.32/

US$8.05).

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Renewable Energy, considering the stability of the market, eliminated the payments towards trust funds. Now, distribution companies pays directly to the generators.

Some important energy infrastructure projects have been contracted by the government. For instance, CONELEC awarded to a Chinese corporation the construction of several transmission lines from 230kV up to 500kV valued at more than US$500 million.

VII CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK

"e Ecuadorean market is evolving and changing the energy matrix by developing new sources of energy. Important projects are under way and the level of importation of energy from neighbouring countries is declining. "e changes introduced by the government are encouraging energy e%ciency by reducing energy losses and expanding the SNI.

"e government is promoting the exploration and exploitation of gas. In the eleventh oil bidding round, the industrialisation of gas has been introduced as part of the deal for oil companies interested in entering into service contracts with Ecuador.

"e Ecuadorean energy market presents interesting options for investors, since the market has no de!cit and is opening up to private investment.

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Appendix 1

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

JORGE PAZ DURINIPaz Horowitz Robalino Garcés Attorneys at LawJorge Paz Durini is co-founder and partner of Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés and leads its energy and natural resources practice area. He has negotiated acquisition, engineering and construction contracts for some of the most important electric and hydroelectric generators and facilities in Ecuador. Mr Paz Durini has provided legal support in the development of business, !nancial and legal structure, as well as in regulatory compliance issues for various renewable energy projects, including photovoltaic generator projects.

He is also known for his in-depth knowledge of the mining sector, having served as Undersecretary of Mines at the Ecuador Energy and Mines Department and President of the Ecuador Chamber of Mines.

Mr Paz Durini also practises in the areas of antitrust, arbitration and aviation, corporate/commercial, real estate and tax. He consistently receives recognition from legal guides such as Chambers and Partners Latin America, Legal 500 Latin America, Latin Lawyer 250, !e International Who’s Who of Mining Lawyers and IFLR 1000.

DANIEL ROBALINOPaz Horowitz Robalino Garcés Attorneys at LawDaniel Robalino is an associate at Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés. His practice areas include energy, international arbitration, foreign investment, antitrust law and policy, and mergers and acquisitions.

About the Authors

552

LEYRE SUÁREZ Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés Attorneys at LawLeyre Suárez is an associate at Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés. Her practice areas include energy, oil and gas, international arbitration, foreign investment, antitrust, administrative law, and mergers and acquisitions.

RAFAEL VALDIVIESO Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés Attorneys at LawRafael Valdivieso is an associate at Paz Horowitz Robalino Garcés. His practice areas include energy, oil and gas, international arbitration, foreign investment, antitrust law and mergers and acquisitions.

PAZ HOROWITZ ROBALINO GARCÉS ATTORNEYS AT LAWCalle del Establo y Calle EEdi!cio Site CentreTower I, Suite 301Cumbayá, QuitoEcuadorTel: +593 2 398 2900Fax: +593 2 398 2999jpaz@pazhorowitz.comdrobalino@pazhorowitz.comwww.pazhorowitz.com