Aura Power Secures £10 Million Funding From Novuna
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
These two paragraphs introduce the deal.
Aura Power has announced the successful closing of a £10 million debt facility with Novuna Business Finance. Novuna is a part of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC, designed to support projects from early development through to the operational phase.
Bristol-based Aura Power is developing an active pipeline of utility-scale solar PV and battery energy storage of about 12GW in the UK, Europe and North America. The funding will help progress global development for Aura, covering expenditures like grid payments, planning fees and legal land costs.
These two paragraphs describe some of Aura’s projects.
In December 2023, Aura was granted planning permission for a 100MW/400MWh battery energy storage (BESS) project in Capenhurst, Cheshire. It was the third UK project to receive planning permission last year, alongside Aura’s 49.9MW Horton Solar Farm located in East Devon and its 49.9MW Hawthorn Pit Solar Farm in Durham.
Aura has been active within the solar and battery industries, with a pipeline in development in excess of 20GW. Last week (2 May), following an appeal, the developer secured planning permission for an Essex solar farm that will have an export capacity of 30 MW.
Nearly, forty years ago, I started a finance company in Ipswich with a friend. Our financing was mainly directed towards truck leasing for companies moving containers to and from the Port of Felixstowe.
Before, I committed my money to that venture, I built a large mathematical model of the proposed business. I found, that there were some unique financial properties to leasing quality trucks, that meant losing large sums of money were difficult.
I wouldn’t be surprised that leasing battery energy storage (BESS) systems have a lot of things going for them, if you have the right contract.
This may explain, why there a large number of companies in the market of providing grid batteries.
- At the top end; Centrica, Rolls-Royce and SSE will supply you with one.
- Funds like Gore Street and Gresham House and others allow you to invest in batteries.
- At the other end of the market are companies like Aura Power.
I suspect, that as with truck-leasing company, the financial flows are very stable and investor-friendly, if you get the model right.
Northern Lights Stun UK In Spectacular Display
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
The Northern Lights have made a rare appearance across the UK, delighting sky watchers up and down the country.
These three paragraphs add more detail.
Excited onlookers shared pictures of the lights, also known as aurora borealis, visible right across the country, including the south coast of England – and if you missed it you are likely to have a chance to see it again on Saturday night.
They could be seen after one of the strongest geomagnetic storms for years hit Earth, with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issuing a rare solar storm warning.
Such storms increase people’s chances of seeing the lights.
But how did the weather effect me?
- Yesterday, my INR was 2.4.
- I then had a terrible night, as I tossed and turned.
- I even had to get up twice in the middle of the night to remake the bed.
- This is so unlike me.
- In the morning my INR was 2.2.
Was the reduction because low pressure sucked the water out of my body?
That is nnot in itself dangerous, but I do think, that there will have been a lot of strokes last night.
I wrote about this in Do Thunderstorms Cause Strokes?.
C-Capture Launches Innovative Carbon Capture Trial For Cement Industry
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from C-Capture.
This is the sub-heading.
C-Capture, developers of next generation technology for carbon dioxide removal, has launched a new carbon capture trial in the cement manufacturing sector in partnership with Heidelberg Materials.
This is the first paragraph.
The trial, which utilises C-Capture’s innovative solution for industrial decarbonisation, is taking place at Heidelberg Material’s cement manufacturing plant in Ketton. It forms part of C-Capture’s national project, ‘XLR8 CCS – Accelerating the Deployment of a Low-Cost Carbon Capture Solution for Hard-to-Abate Industries’. Working with project partners across the UK, C-Capture’s XLR8 CCS project will demonstrate that a low-cost carbon capture solution is a reality for difficult-to-decarbonise industries in the race to net zero.
I wrote about C-Capture’s technology in Could Drax Power Station Solve The Carbon Dioxide Shortage?
The technology appears to have been spun out of Leeds University.
BP and Drax are investors.
This page on the C-Capture web site is called Technology and has a very neat interactive guide to how the technology works.
Conclusion
I have high hopes for this company and its technology.
The Anonymous Widower 