Burges Salmon guides Aukera through £135m senior debt facility to develop five UK solar projects totalling 250MWp

Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has advised Aukera, the energy transition company backed by leading private investor AtlasInvest, on its £135 million senior debt facility with Deutsche Bank and Rabobank to finance the construction of its 250MW solar and co-located BESS portfolio in the UK.

Stretching from Kent to Ayrshire, the projects all secured contracts for difference in last year’s Allocation Round 5. One of the projects, Benthead in North Ayrshire, also includes a c.30 MW 2-hr duration co-located battery. The schemes are all expected to be fully operational before the end of 2026.

Burges Salmon’s Banking and Finance team advised on the transaction, led by partner Stuart McMillan, senior associate Alison Logan and solicitor Olivia Hoh with support from the Construction, Projects, Real Estate and Planning teams.

Stuart comments: “The successful closing of this deal marks a key milestone for Aukera and also signifies a notable advancement in the UK’s transition to sustainable energy with projects that stretch from coast to coast. With experience advising in energy finance in the UK and internationally, we take pride in supporting our clients and collaborating on projects that pave the way for a greener future.”

Aukera’s co-founders, Pascal Emsens and Catalin Breaban, add: “This transaction marks a significant milestone for Aukera. It has been a pleasure to work alongside the excellent teams at Rabobank and Deutsche Bank to deliver this transaction, marking the beginning of Aukera’s next stage of growth as our project pipeline starts to reach maturity in all four of our markets. We’re grateful to Burges Salmon for its superb advice, the team showed throughout the transaction its strong grasp of the commercial and practical operations of solar projects and how to finance them.”

Combining sector knowledge with banking and finance expertise, Burges Salmon provides tailored advice to support lenders and borrowers on complex financing transactions in the UK and internationally. The firm’s energy capabilities were recognised in Clean Energy Pipeline’s annual Legal League Tables  with Burges Salmon ranked as the second most active law firm in clean energy M&A deals and in the top 10 Project Finance table, having completed 18 transactions, totalling £936 million.