Aukera Wins CfD, Greenlights 45-MW Scottish Solar

• Aukera’s 45‑MW Scottish solar wins CfD, securing price certainty and construction, with battery-ready design, bifacial tech, grid-tuned controls—bringing jobs, steadier taxes, and greener local gains.

Aukera won a UK Contracts for Difference award for a 45‑MW Scottish solar plant, securing long‑term price certainty that derisks financing and moves the project to construction. The CfD underwrites cash flows versus market prices, enabling cheaper debt. With revenue risk capped and a grid slot secured, Aukera advances design, EPC, and build sequencing.

Design uses bifacial modules on trackers or optimized fixed‑tilt, string inverters, and GB Grid Code‑tuned controls. The substation is battery‑ready for a two‑to‑four‑hour system to shift output into winter evenings and capture ancillary revenues. Local benefits: construction and O&M jobs, steadier taxes, and embedded biodiversity measures.

What derisking, design, and grid strategies drive Aukera’s 45‑MW Scottish solar build?

Financial derisking
- Fixed-price, date-certain EPC wrap with liquidated damages for delay and underperformance
- Multi-year O&M contract with availability guarantees and performance-linked KPIs
- Comprehensive insurance stack: construction all-risk, delay-in-start-up, business interruption, and inverter/module warranty backstops
- Currency and interest-rate hedging aligned to GBP capex and debt service profile
- Tier-1, dual-source module and inverter procurement with factory audits and batch testing to limit supply-chain and quality risk
- Independent engineer bankability review, plus conservative P50/P90 energy yield assessments incorporating soiling, snow, and degradation
- Contingency budgeting and owner’s reserve accounts for grid upgrades and weather delays

Design and site engineering
- Layout optimized for high-latitude irradiation: increased row spacing and tilt to boost winter capture while controlling row-to-row shading
- Wind-resilient structures: higher design wind speeds, stow strategies for trackers (if used), and reinforced foundations for exposed Scottish sites
- Low-impact foundations (e.g., micro-piles/helical) and floating access where needed to minimize peatland disturbance and settlement
- Corrosion mitigation: C5-rated coatings, stainless hardware, and sealed cable systems suited to wet, coastal, or boggy conditions
- Snow/ice and low-temperature performance validated through module selection (LID/LeTID mitigation, robust backsheet/glass) and cold-weather BOS specs
- SCADA with granular string-level monitoring, fault detection, and digital twin for predictive maintenance and loss analysis
- Adaptive DC/AC sizing to cap clipping in summer while lifting shoulder-season output; reserved plot and conduits for future co-location assets
- Construction-phase environmental controls: silt/runoff management, peat restoration plans, and micro-siting to avoid sensitive habitats and archaeology

Grid and market integration
- Early Statement of Works coordination and phased energization to align with transmission or distribution reinforcements
- Curtailment risk management via Active Network Management participation, constraint forecasting, and dynamic setpoint controls
- Reactive power, voltage control, and fault-ride-through capabilities tuned for local network needs, with harmonic filtering where required
- Participation readiness for GB flexibility services and the Balancing Mechanism through a route-to-market partner and headroom management
- On-site metering and protection schemes designed for rapid re-dispatch, export limiting, and compliance testing to speed grid acceptance
- Weather- and grid-aware forecasting integrated into bid/offtake scheduling to reduce imbalance costs and improve dispatchability