Legal Information

Terms of use

1. Subject of the Contract, Area of Applicability

1.1 Rödl IT-Consulting GmbH (Rödl & Partner) provides a b2b platform for project developers / project vendors and investors in the context of renewable energy subject to the Description of Services in paragraph 8 of these Terms of Use, which is available at www.renerex.com or www.renerex.de. Through this platform, project investors (investors) and project developers / project vendors (developers / vendors), referred to together as users in the following, can establish contact and communicate with each other subject to specific conditions described below. Users can create individual personal profiles, retrieve published contents from the platform, and access additional services made available to on the platform subject their availability. The platform does not serve to close contracts between developers / vendors and investors. Any contracts, including any possible payments, must be concluded outside of the platform directly between the contracting parties. Rödl & Partner is not involved in the closing of any contracts, neither as an intermediary, nor as an authorized agent. The platform only serves to publish project information and exchange such project information and other contents, and to facilitate the opening of communications of users with each other, subject to the following conditions.

1.2 These Terms of Use govern how Rödl & Partner makes these services available, and how correctly registered users use these services.

1.3 In order to use the services of the platform available at renerex.com or renerex.de, the user must accept these Terms of Use. Otherwise, he or she is prohibited from using the platform services.

2. Changes to the Terms of Use

2.1 Rödl & Partner reserves the right to change these Terms of Use at any time, such changes being effective within the existing contractual relationships. Rödl & Partner will notify the user of such changes at least 14 days prior to their becoming effective. The user has the right to terminate this contract within 14 days, starting with the receipt of the change notification. Otherwise, the contractual relationship continues subject to the changed conditions. Rödl & Partner will inform the user of his or her right to terminate the contract in the change notification, and of the consequences of such a termination of contract.

2.2 These Terms of Use are the only effective Terms of Use for use of the platform. Any other terms of use of users do not become part of the contractual agreement between the users and Rödl & Partner. This also applies in case Rödl & Partner does not expressly object to contrary, differing, or other terms of use of a user. Such terms of use of a user only become part of this contractual agreement after their applicability and validity has been expressly confirmed by Rödl & Partner.

3. Registration, Closing of Contract, Duration of Contract, and Termination of Contract

3.1 In order to use the platform, each user must register by completing the respective registration form, providing the information marked as obligatory therein, and create a user account. Without creating a user account, use of the platform, and the services and contents of the platform, is not possible. In particular, when registering the user can choose to receive our newsletter regarding renewable energies. By ticking “Yes” the newsletter will be sent to his or her mail address, by ticking “No” the user can refuse to receive the newsletter. If the user does not make a decision “No” will be selected automatically. After registration, users receive an e-mail from Rödl & Partner to verify their e-mail address. Following the verification of the e-mail address, a plausibility check, both for developers / vendors and investors, is conducted subject to paragraphs 4.2 and 5.1. After the successful completion of the plausibility check, the user account is activated. The respective user receives an e-mail informing him or her of the activation of the account containing a link to log on to the user’s account. The user can then use the platform and his or her user account. The contract between the user and Rödl & Partner is concluded when the user account is being activated. In case of a failed plausibility check, the user account is not activated. Rödl & Partner will inform the user of that fact in the course of the registration process. In that case, no contract has been concluded between the user and Rödl & Partner.

3.2 When registering, users are being differentiated based on their intended use of the platform as either project developers / vendors or investors. Different registration forms are being provided for developers / vendors and investors. Depending on the kind of registration, users receive different permissions regarding the available platform services. Therefore, users must choose the registration form applicable to them when registering.

3.3 There is no entitlement to a user account. Rödl & Partner reserves the right to deny registration, or deactivate or delete user accounts in case of false and/or incorrect information, false identity, or wrong choice of user role (project developer / project vendor, investor).

3.4 The duration of the contract is indefinite and the contract can be terminated by either party in writing or by e-mail at any time, becoming effective at the end of the month following the month during which such termination was communicated to the other party.

3.5 Rödl & Partner reserves the right to deactivate or delete the user account, and to archive – in case Rödl is legally required to maintain the data – or delete the associated saved data after one month counting from the day the termination of contract became effective. Until then, the respective user may demand that the data be provided to him or her. The user must direct this demand at . Rödl & Partner will provide the user data in a common data format. There is no such provision of user data after the above holding period has elapsed.

4. Special Conditions for Developers / vendors

4.1 After successful registration and account activation, each developer / vendor can add information regarding projects developed by him or her to the platform. The developer / vendor must correctly describe each project.

4.2 Rödl & Partner reserves the right to conduct a plausibility check regarding the actual nature of a registering developer / vendor after a developer’s / vendor’s registration and before sending an activation e-mail. This check will be conducted by Rödl & Partner by means of a phone call, or e-mail correspondence. Developers / vendors will be notified of this process separately in the e-mail sent upon verification of their e-mail address subject to paragraph 3.1. The check particularly refers to the existence of the registering developer / vendor, the plausibility of the data provided by the registering developer / vendor, and, if applicable, the developer’s / vendor’s entry in public registries. Further Information on this matter is available in paragraph 7 of our Privacy Policy.

4.3 Independent of the registration process, the projects added to the platform by the developer / vendor must satisfy the following requirements. Otherwise, they must not be published on the platform. Rödl & Partner reserves the right to check compliance with these requirements in an appropriate manner. In exceptional cases this may entail establishing personal contact. Developers / vendors will be notified of this process separately in the e-mail sent upon verification of their e-mail address subject to paragraph 3.1. Further Information on this matter is available in paragraph 7 of our Privacy Policy. The minimum requirements to be met for adding projects to the platform are the following:

• Photovoltaic power projects must have an electric capacity of at least 250 kWp.
• Wind power projects must have an electric capacity of at least 500 kW.
• Bioenergy projects must have an electric capacity of at least 300 kW.
• Hydropower projects must have an electric capacity of at least 250 kW.
• Projects that are either deep geothermal projects, or generate energy from solid biomass, are not subject to minimum requirements.

4.4 Developers / vendors can assign adjustable information levels within the projects listed on the platform. Developers / vendors thereby decide, on own account, which information they make accessible to investors. Rödl & Partner has no influence over this process of exchange of information and is not involved therein whatsoever.

4.5 The information provided for listed projects than can be made accessible to registered investors is, or can be, assigned to different information levels. For basic information about the project the information level ”Public” should be chosen. Information of this information level “Public” is visible to registered investors, but not to other registered developers / vendors. The respective developer/ vendor decides on own account which information about his or her project is subject to the information level “Public”.

4.6 Detailed or confidential information shall be marked as information level ”Confidential”. Information of this information level “Confidential” is visible to registered investors who actively ask for access to that information, and who are actively granted access to that information by the respective developer / vendor, only. The respective developer/ vendor decides on own account which information about his or her project is subject to the information level “Confidential”.

4.7 The developers / vendors are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information regarding their projects and any further confidential information themselves. To that end, developers / vendors can, in addition to the information of the respective project, add own confidentiality agreements as part of the respective project information on the platform, and can ask the investor to sign such an own confidentiality agreement prior to granting the investor access to information of information level ”Confidential”. Rödl & Partner will not provide any recommendations or templates regarding such confidentiality agreements. This falls within the responsibility of the users.

4.8 In order to safeguard against espionage by competitors, each developer / vendor can only see and edit his or her own projects on the platform. The only information developers/ vendors can retrieve about projects of their competitors (identity remains undisclosed) is the cumulative capacity and the number of all projects published on RENEREX for the respective country. Furthermore, the developer/ vendor can access for each technology how many projects have been published for the respective country and their cumulative capacity. This information is retrievable for each user at the front page of his or her account.

5. Special Conditions for Investors

5.1 During the registration process, by clicking “Yes” the investor can additionally receive basic information about the projects that have recently been published on RENEREX and match the investor’s preferences. This basic information includes the project name, the technology, the location (country and city), the project status and the capacity in MW. The investor will receive this information via e-mail. If the investor does not wish to benefit from this service, the box “No” should be ticked. If the user does not make a choice “No” will be selected automatically. Rödl & Partner reserves the right to conduct a plausibility check regarding the actual nature of a registering investor after an investor’s registration and before sending an activation e-mail. This check will be conducted by Rödl & Partner by means of a phone call, or e-mail correspondence. Investors will be notified of this process separately in the e-mail sent upon verification of their e-mail address subject to paragraph 3.1. The check particularly refers to the existence of the registering investors, the plausibility of the data provided by the registering investor, and, if applicable, the investor’s entry in public registries. Further Information on this matter is available in paragraph 7 of our Privacy Policy.

5.2 After their correct registration, investors can retrieve basic information about registered projects on the starting page of their user account. This information includes  the cumulative capacity and the number of all projects published on RENEREX for the respective country. Furthermore, the investor can retrieve for each technology, how many projects have been published for the respective country and their cumulative capacity. Additionally, the investor has access to information such as country, technology, capacity, the information level of registered projects, and information available on the information level “Public” for individual projects. The content provided on information level “Public” is determined by the respective developer / vendor (see 4.5).

5.3 Investors who desire access to information provided on information level “Confidential” must request access to that information from the respective developer / vendor. The developer / vendor will either grant, or deny such access by the developer’s / vendor’s own choosing, and on the developer’s / vendor’s own account. Rödl & Partner is not a part of this process.

6. Responsibility for Access Credentials

6.1 During the registration process, users are prompted to choose a user name and password. With these credentials, users can log into their user account and the platform after approval and activation of the user account. Every user is responsible for the username not infringing on the rights of third parties such as, in particular, brand names and trademarks, and that it is not offensive to other users.

6.2 Access credentials, including the password, must be kept secret by the user and must not be shared with unauthorized third parties.

6.3 Each user is further responsible to ensure that access to the platform and the use of the services provided on the platform is restricted to the respective user and/ or persons authorized by the respective user. When a user suspects that unauthorized persons may have gained knowledge of the access credentials of a user, Rödl & Partner must be informed thereof immediately. Subject to law, the user is liable for any platform use and/or other activity that occurs in connection with the user’s access credentials.

7. User Information Updates

7.1 Users are required to maintain current user information, including contact information. If, while this contract is in effect, the provided information changes, the user must correct it within the personal settings of his or her user account immediately. In case the user is unable to perform this task, the user must communicate the changes of his or her user information to Rödl & Partner by e-mail. Rödl & Partner will remind users of their obligation to update their information periodically.

7.2 Developers / vendors are further required to archive or deactivate completed projects, or projects that are no longer available, in their user account. Rödl & Partner will automatically deactivate projects after a period of eight weeks without editing by the user. In case of undesired deactivation, the respective users can request the re-activation of their projects. Rödl & Partner will remind developers / vendors of their obligation to update project data and explain further steps by e-mail prior to deactivation.

8. Specification of Services(/ Platform Services and Contents)

8.1 Rödl & Partner provides a platform to establish contact between developers / vendors and investors, to assess and evaluate projects, and to facilitate transactions relating to investments into different kinds of renewable energy projects. Renewable energy projects, in this context, specifically refers to photovoltaic power, wind power, hydropower, bioenergy, and geothermal power. Rödl & Partner reserves the right to admit further categories of renewable energy projects in the future.

8.2 Rödl & Partner reserves the right to provide different informational and other services depending on the chosen kind of user account (developer / vendor or investor). Such services can consist of the provision of information regarding support programs or a news box, for instance.

8.3 Rödl & Partner may, at any time, change the services provided on the platform free of charge, add new services to the platform free of charge or against payment, and may terminate services provided free of charge in addition to the platform and its functionalities. In such cases, Rödl & Partner will be considerate of users’ legitimate interests.

9. User-Added Contents, Rights of Use

9.1 Users, especially developers / vendors, can add content to the portal and make that content available to investors under the following conditions:

9.2 By adding content and/or projects users grant Rödl & Partner the rights of use thereof free of charge. This particularly refers to

• saving the contents on Rödl & Partner’s serves and their publication, specifically their publication on the platform,
• and to edit and copy the respective contents and/or projects to the extent this is necessary to provide or publish those contents and/or projects on the platform.

9.3 Users are fully responsible for their added contents, including projects and data provided in the context of generation and publication of the projects. Rödl & Partner does not check whether contents are complete, correct, legal, current, of a certain quality, or regarding their usefulness for a particular purpose. Therefore, the user declares that he or she is the sole proprietor of all rights to contents and/or projects submitted by him or her to the platform, or that the user has the permission (e.g. by effective permission by the owner) to submit contents and/or projects to the platform, and permission to grant rights of use subject to paragraph 9.2 above.

10. Limitations of Use, Prohibited Activities

10.1 The services available on the platform are exclusively intended for the use by users in the context of their platform use subject to these Terms of Use. Any use for, or in the context of, other purposes other than the purposes of the platform is prohibited. Such prohibited use is in particular

• any promotion, advertising, or other activity that extends beyond the mere exchange of information and beyond establishing contact such as raffles, lotteries, barter trade, or multilevel sales, and
• any electronic of other kind of collection of personal and/or contact data (including e-mail addresses) of users (e.g. for the purpose of sending unsolicited e-mails).

10.2 Any activity on, or in the context of, the platform is prohibited that is unlawful, infringes upon the rights of third parties, or violates the principles of the protection of minors. The following activities are prohibited in particular:

• Adding, distributing offering for purchase, and advertising pornographic contents, services and/or products, contents, services and/or products that violate laws for the protection of minors, privacy laws, and/or other laws, or fraudulent contents, services and/or products.
• Contents that insult or defame other users or third parties.
• Racist contents or expressions of opinion, and/or contents or expressions of opinion that glorify war.
• The use, provision, and publication of contents, services and/or products that are protected by law or carry the rights of third parties (e.g. copyrights), unless expressly authorized to do so.

10.3 Further, and independent of any potential violation of laws, users are prohibited from the following activities when adding contents to the platform and/or communicating with other users (e.g. by sending personal messages):

• distribution of computer viruses, Trojans, and other malware;
• sending of junk or spam e-mails and chain letters;
• distribution of lewd, offensive, sexual, obscene, or defamatory contents, or the communication of such contents, or communication that is suitable for fostering or supporting racism, fanaticism, hate, physical violence, or unlawful acts;
• harassment of other users, for instance by means of multiple personal messages without reaction, or inconsiderate of the will expressed in such reaction, as well as fostering or supporting such harassment;
• soliciting other users to grant access to passwords or personal information for commercial or unlawful or illegal purposes;
• the distribution and/or public presentation of contents available on the platform, unless expressly authorized by the respective author, or unless expressly provided as platform functionality.

10.4 Any activity that is capable of impeding the correct operation of the platform, especially activities that require unreasonable system resources, is also prohibited.

10.5 In case a user notices illegal or abusive use of the platform, or a use of the platform contrary to this contract, or any other unauthorized use of the platform, he or she must report this fact to Rödl & Partner immediately by sending an e-mail to . Rödl & Partner will investigate the reported activity and take appropriate steps if required.

10.6 In case there are grounds for suspicion of unlawful or criminal activities, Rödl & Partner is permitted, or obligated, to investigate the respective user’s activity and to initiate appropriate legal procedures. This may include informing the sate prosecutor of the activities. Independent of possible state prosecutor involvement, Rödl & Partner will temporarily or permanently remove the contents and/or projects, or the user account from the platform when unlawful and/or criminal activities are suspected until the investigation is finalized. In such cases, users will be informed of such measures by Rödl & Partner unless such information is prohibited by law, in particular due to tactical considerations of the state prosecutor, namely in cases of imminent danger.

11. Blocked Accounts

11.1 Rödl & Partner block a user’s access to the portal temporarily or permanently when there are specific grounds to suspect that the user is or has been in violation of these Terms of Use and/or the law, or when Rödl & Partner has any other legitimate interest in blocking the account. When deciding on blocking a user account, Rödl& Partner will duly consider the user’s legitimate interests.

11.2 In case of a temporary or permanent block of a user’s account, Rödl & Partner will notify the respective user thereof by e-mail unless such information is prohibited by law, in particular due to tactical considerations of the state prosecutor, namely in cases of imminent danger.

11.3 In case of a temporarily blocked user account, Rödl & Partner will re-activate the account and user privileges. The user will be informed of the re-activation by e-mail. A permanently blocked account cannot be re-activated. Permanently blocked users are excluded from participation in the platform and must not register on the platform again. In such cases, Rödl & Partner is authorized to delete the permanently blocked user’s data subject to applicable legal requirements to maintain the data for specified amounts of time. Until such time passes, the user retains the right to demand that Rödl & Partner return the data to him or her subject to paragraph 3.5.

12. Privacy

12.1 Rödl & Partner is committed to responsibly handle the users‘ personal information. The information gathered in the course of registering on the platform and using the available services are only being collected, processed, and utilized to the extent this is necessary to provide the services, to prevent abuse, and to investigate into suspected criminal activity, or to satisfy requirements imposed by law, government offices, or professional bodies.

12.2 Beyond that, Rödl & Partner only utilizes users‘ personal information to the extent to which the users explicitly agreed to. Users may revoke permissions granted at any time.

12.3 Data are being processed, saved, and deleted in accordance with legal requirements.

12.4 Further details are available in our Privacy Policy.

13. Limited Liability, Warranty

13.1 In case a user suffers damages due to the use of services provided on the platform, Rödl & Partner is only liable for such damages that result from the contractually agreed use of the platform contents and/or services, and if such damages were the result of Rödl & Partner’s willful intent or gross negligence. This limitation does not apply to damages to life, body, or health.

13.2 Rödl & Partner is fully liable for damages caused by Rödl & Partner, its legal representatives, management, or its agents because of willful intent or gross negligence.

13.3 In case of negligence, Rödl & Partner is only liable for substantial contract violations that prevent users from attaining the purpose of this contract, and whose occurrence users need not anticipate regularly. Liability is limited to damages that can be anticipated and are common to such kinds of contracts. This limitation does not apply to damages to life, body, or health.

13.4 Rödl & Partner assumes no responsibility for the correctness and completeness of information provided by and declarations made by users, added content, or information regarding, or in the context of, projects, nor for the identity or integrity of users.

13.5 Rödl & Partner assumes no responsibility for technical defects, especially regarding the permanent and uninterrupted availability of the platform and its contents, or for the complete and correct representation of contents added to the platform by users.

14. Other Stipulations

14.1 Declarations in Writing

Unless explicitly stated otherwise in these Terms of Use, all declarations made in the context of participation in the platform must be made in writing by mail or e-mail. The e-mail address of Rödl & Partner for matters relating to the platform is . The mailing address of Rödl & Partner is Aeussere Sulzbacher Strasse 100, 90491 Nuremberg, Germany. Rödl & Partner reserves the right to change its contact information and will inform the user in case of such changes.

14.2 Safeguard Clause

Should a stipulation in these Terms of Use be or become invalid, the remaining stipulations remain in force. A stipulation approximating the invalid original stipulation as closely as possible regarding its economic effects will then replace the invalid original stipulation.

14.3 Applicable Law

These Terms of Use are subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the Convention of Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG).

14.4 Court of Jurisdiction

The Court of Jurisdiction for any disputes arising out of these Terms of Use is Nuremberg, Germany, exclusively.

Imprint

Information according to § 5 TMG (German Telemedia Act):

Provider:

Rödl IT-Consulting GmbH

Äußere Sulzbacher Str. 100

90491 Nürnberg

Tel.: +49 (9 11) 91 93-0

Fax: +49 (9 11) 91 93-19 00

E-Mail:

Executive Officers:

Heiko Pech
Michael Kolbenschlag

Registration Number:

Amtsgericht Nürnberg, HRB 17126

Tax-ID:

DE 292688673