Developer of solar energy Aumera Energy has a senior debt facility of £ 135 million protected from two international banks to finance the growth of its British solar portfolio.
The financial package comes to Deutsche Bank and Rabobank and will be used to finance the construction of five British solar projects with a combined capacity of 220 MWp. All five projects secured contracts for Difference (CFDs) in the fall 2024 Allocation Round 6, and are expected to be all fully operational by the end of 2026.
It is remarkable that one project will also have a co-location battery energy storage system (BESS). The Benthead Energy Project, which is located in Noord-Ayrshire, Scotland and is co-developed by Locoge, will combine a 63 MW solar PV energy plant and a Bess of 30 MW, 2 hours, 2 hours, 2-hour duration. The development is expected to be online later this year.
Details of the remaining projects that are financed by the debt facility were not revealed from the publication of this story, but Aumera stated that they are spreading over the UK from Kent to Ayrshire. The most important advisers for the transaction were Burges Zalm (Legal Legal), Pinsent Masons (Lender Legal) and Evergy (Lender Technical).
Pascal Emsens and Catalin Brain, co-founders of Aukera, said that the transaction marks an important milestone for the company. They added that this financial package “represents the start of Aukera’s next growth phase, while our project pipeline starts to reach the duration in all four of our markets.”
Carol Kort, executive director of Rabobank Project Finance, stated that the bank was ‘pleased’ to support Aukera Energy’s growth, and added that the transaction emphasizes the strategy of the bank emphasizing ‘building partnerships with customers sharing our dedication to stimulate the shift to a more sustainable future’. Danai Koutra, head of Project Finance, London, at Deutsche Bank, agreed, adding that the deal is a strong example of the “dedication of Deutsche Bank” use for sustainable financing and offering complex structured solutions “.
Auera’s ambitions
Aumera was founded in 2021 and currently has a development frame of 16 GW projects for solar, wind and battery storage projects in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Romania.
Last October Auera Energy and Locoge received a building permit for a new PV energy plant on solar energy with co-located battery storage in Scotland. The Loch Fergus schedule, which will be located near Ayr in South Ayrshire, Scotland, will contain a 45 MW solar installation plus 40 MW CO-located storage and is expected to be operational 2026. The site will host about 100,000 solar cells, will be able to continue Schapenbesstation and the power will continue.
Rabobank has been involved in a number of other major financing agreements in the UK in the UK in recent months and years. In February, Aura Power secured a £ 33.1 million financial package from Rabobank, which will be used to develop the 40 MW Burtree Lane Solar PV energy plant. This deal became four months after Aura Power and Rabobank announced that another financial package had been agreed, a debt facility of £ 44 million to build the 49.9 MW Kemble Solar Farm.
