Renewable energy developer Aura Power has secured planning permission for two solar PV power plants in England.
Aura Power was granted permission for the 49.9MW Moreton Brook solar PV power plant, located near Newton in East Staffordshire, in late March. According to Aura Power, this project will deliver a 102% biodiversity net gain in the area, as well as creating a community benefit fund of £20,000 each year for the lifetime of the project, amounting to a total of £700,000.
More recently, the 30MW Marsh Farm solar PV power plant, located near Wortham and Palgrave in Mid Suffolk, was awarded planning permission earlier this month. The Marsh Farm project was awarded unanimous committee approval, having received 51 letters of support from local residents and garnering praise from councillors for its thoughtful and well-considered design.
According to Aura Power, this project will deliver a £12,000 per year community benefit fund, with a total of £420,000 going into the community over the project’s lifetime. The developer is also offering educational sessions with local schools, taking pupils on site visits to help demonstrate the importance of solar power.
Aura Power’s CEO Simon Coulson said the firm is “proud” to have secured the planning permission for the projects. The company currently has a ready to build pipeline of 585MWp.
This is the latest success in what has been a strong start to 2025 so far for Aura Power. In February of this year, Aura Power announced that it had secured a £33.1 million finance package from Rabobank in order to develop the 40MW Burtree Lane solar PV power plant, located in Darlington, County Durham. This is the second project that Aura Power has been financed through Rabobank, having secured a £44 million project financing debt facility through Rabobank in October 2024 to construct the 49.9MW Kemble Solar Farm, located near Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
The company celebrated significant wins in the most recent CfD Allocation Round, AR6, which took place in September 2024. The developer secured contracts for 175MW of capacity across four consented UK solar projects, which cleared at a strike price of £50.07 per MWh.
