Independent power producer (IPP) Aura Power has commenced commercial operations at its 49.9MW Kemble Solar Farm in Gloucestershire, marking the company’s transition from a developer to an IPP.
The company started exporting power from the project last month and the facility is the first in Aura’s portfolio to reach fully operational status. The project will also deliver a net biodiversity gain of 27%, and the company has set up a community fund of £20,000 per year to support “local initiatives” over the 40-year life of the project.
“This is an incredibly proud moment for everyone at Aura Power,” said Simon Coulson, CEO of Aura. “Kemble Solar Farm is the first of ten projects in Aura’s construction and operations pipeline and marks a defining moment for Aura Power’s strategic evolution.”
Aura first received a building permit for the project in 2022and signed an offtake agreement as part of the fifth allocation round (AR5) of the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, held in 2023. The company also recently refinanced the project, securing a £44 million debt facility from Dutch bank Rabobank to support construction of the project in 2024.
The company was also a successful applicant in the most recent CfD round, AR7, securing contracts for 152 MW of solar capacity across three projects. This was a record round for the UK solar sector. with contracts awarded for 4.9 GW of solar PV capacity, spread across 155 individual projectsboth records for the UK aid scheme. The strike price for the Kemble project, set in 2023, is £47/MWh, almost £20 lower than the £65.23/MWh reached last month.
The UK CfD scheme was dubbed the “gold standard” for solar energy investment opportunities by Bob Psaradellis, CEO of Island Green Power, at last month’s Solar Finance & Investment Europe event, organized in London by Solar Power Portal publisher Solar Media.
Looking ahead, Aura plans to commission the remainder of its 600MW solar pipeline in Britain over the next 18 months, including the 128MW Grimsby and Burtree Lane projects, where the company expects to begin commercial operations “this spring”.
