Independent power producer (IPP) Aura Power has secured planning permission for a 100MW/400MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Sandford, North Somerset.
North Somerset Council gave the green light to the 4-hour Sandford BESS, which will be connected via the existing National Grid infrastructure. According to Aura Power, it will continue to work with National Grid to bring forward the project’s connection date through its ongoing electricity network reforms.
Only BESS projects that have been granted ‘protected’ connections will connect to the UK electricity grid before 2035. A similar project, Zenobē’s transmission scale 200MW/800MWh Coalburn BESSwill connect in 2028, after it reaches the recipient of the first formal connection offer issued by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
Aura Power currently has another one 4 hour BESS under construction in Capenhurst, Cheshire.
According to the company, this latest approval comes at an important point in its progress, having recently transitioned to an IPP. Aura power powered its first wholly owned solar asset in March this year. The aim is now to deliver 1GW of off-the-shelf (RTB) solar and battery storage projects across Britain by 2028.
Aura’s head of UK development, Peter Thomas, said: “As Aura Power enters its next chapter as an independent energy producer, we are focused on delivering projects that are not only technically and commercially robust, but also thoughtfully designed, supporting local communities and leaving the natural environment in a better condition than we found it.”
The development is necessary to deliver a net benefit to biodiversity, although the IPP did not specify further than delivering biodiversity ‘improvements’ and new landscaping.
