On Thursday, UK renewable energy developer Aura Power announced its planning permission for a 30MW solar farm near Rayleigh in Essex County, southeast England.
Despite an initial appeal by Rochford District Council’s Development Committee in 2023, citing concerns about harm to the Green Belt, permission was granted. Following this, the council adopted a climate action plan aiming for 100 MW of renewable energy in the district by 2030.
The solar farm is expected to have enough electric output to meet the needs of 11,000 homes and will be built without a subsidy.
George Wilyman, Head of Planning at Aura Power, expressed:
“We are delighted with the Inspectors’ decision to grant planning permission. As recognised within the decision, this development will provide significant benefits to the local area, whilst also contributing towards national targets for renewable energy generation.”
This planning permission coincided with Aura Power securing £10m in debt financing from Novuna Business Finance to propel its 12GW global pipeline of utility-scale solar and battery energy projects.
